Day 11 – Dikilli – Pergamon

Dikili, Pergamum

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

We arrived today in the Turkish port of Dikili at about noon. Our travel goal today is the ancient city of Pergamon. The first stop was the lower city complex of the Asciepion in the ancient city. This was a center of the healing arts, more like a spa dedicated to healing. The familiar medical symbol with part of a snake originated here, as snakes were part of the healing process. At this site there were many upright columns and underground rooms for those staying at the site. There was also a 10,000 seat theater as part of the site. The main part of of Pergamum was on a very high hill called the acropolis which was fortified and under went various occupations by the Greeks, Romans, and the Byzantines. The Romans had the most influence with many temples and palaces. The Hadrian Palace is the most prominent feature of the site. There was an alter to Zeus which was removed to a museum in Berlin. The theater was very steep and had 15-20,000 seats.

	Asciepion [Map]		Theater at Asciepion [Map]
	Columns at the Asciepion [Map]		Road out of Asciepion [Map]
	Hadrian Palace [Map]		Theater at Acropolis of Pergamum [Map]
	Another view of Hadrian Palace [Map]		Pergamum – theater and palace [Map]

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