Ancient City of Pergamum

The ancient city of Pergamum, located near Dikili in the north of Izmir, is also known as the city of Asklepios, the God of Health in mythology. Galenos, known as the father of pharmacy, was born in Pergamum. There is Asklepieion, an old hospital from the 4th century BC. Pergamum is one of the oldest settlements in the history of civilization. As a result of the excavations and research, it was understood that the city's history goes back to the Bronze Age. This was a route that nomadic people pass through. The settlement in Bergama dates back to the 7th century BC. It was the capital of the kingdom of Pergamum for 150 years (281-133 BC). After being the most important metropolis of the Roman period, the Byzantine, Seljuk, and finally the Ottoman Empire ruled this city.

The city was captured by Xenophon in 399 BC for the first time in ancient times and then by the Persians. Between 281 and 133 BC, it became the capital of the Hellenistic Pergamum Kingdom during the Attalid period. The Attalid dynasty allied itself with Rome in return for its help in the Macedonian wars. Attalid, who generously ruled the city, invited the artisans to the city and paid their salaries. These artists reorganized the Bergama Acropolis based on the Acropolis in Athens.

The ancient city of Pergamum was home to approximately 200,000 citizens when it reached its most developed form under Roman rule. The people of the city were among the early believers of Christianity and had a bishopric in the 2nd century. According to the Book of Revelations, this is where Satan lives, and his throne is located. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in 262 and later invaded by the Goths. The city, which the Byzantine Emperor Constantin II rebuilt, was controlled by the Seljuk Turks for a period and then was taken by the Karesioğulları Principality in 1336. The city, which re-entered under Byzantine rule in 1357, finally joined the Ottoman lands.

Pergamum was an ancient Greek city established at the northern end of the Caicus River (currently Bakırçay). Today, the main areas of Pergamum are in the northwest of today's modern city of Bergama. Overlooking the Caicus River Valley, which provides access to the Aegean coast, the city had a tremendous strategic value.

This ancient city is the place where the first psychotherapeutic treatment was applied with the sound of water and suggestion method. In the ancient city of Pergamum, you should definitely visit the Hellenistic period shops, the ruins of the ancient king Athalos, the city square, the sacred Athena area, the library, the theater, and the Dionysus temple.