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KUSADASI GUIDE - Historical Places - Pergamum

Kusadasi > About Kusadasi > Historical Places > Pergamum

After the death of Alexander the Great, one of his generals who is called Lysimachus chose Pergamum as the depository for his wealth. He placed nine thousand talents of gold in Pergamum under the guardianship of Philetaerus who was his lieutenant. After the death of Lysimachus, Philetaerus took advantage of this wealth and founded the independent dynasty of Attalid Kings which later became the centre of Hellenistic civilization. With the success of the two kings Attalus I and Eumenes II, Pergamum reached the highest point of its power. However during those time Rome and the Hellenistic leaders united. After that Pergamum became a very powerful kingdom by Attalus I including Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Pamphylia and Phrygia. He not only extended the borders but also decorated the capital city with architectural splendors. Eumenes II improved the city culturally. King Attalus III bequeathed the territory to the Romans who made the city rich in art and culture poor in politics and economy. The city went through the Arab, Byzantine and finally the Turkish period in the 14C. In Hellenistic period the ancient city made an intellectual progress with the famous sculpture school and public buildings and monuments. Also Pergamum played an important role during the reign of the Romans.

The foundation of acropolis in Pergamum depended on social and cultural activities which we can consider it to be the daily life. Because of this, buildings in Pergamum were designed to be used in daily life. More than religion socialization was important as a proof even the temples were one of the meeting places of people where they can join in social affairs just like other large buildings which were designed for this purpose. Pergamum had the fame to be the first city who showed reaction to the functional urbanism of Hippodamus as they preferred ornamental urbanism. Acropolis buildings were built and designed with the aim of impressing the ones viewing the city from the valley. All buildings except the Trajan Temple were built in the reign of the Hellenistic emperors which are mostly made of andesite and rarely marble.

Heroon in Pergamum was the shrine in which the kings especially Attalus I and Eumenes II were worshipped.

Eumenes II built the Sanctuary of Athena, dedicated to victory-bringing, in Pergamum which was entered through a propylon. The entrance of the Sanctuary is surrounded by three stoas of the Doric order which opens to a courtyard. Athena Temple is located at the corner near the theatre in Doric order as well which was built earlier.

Another building constructed by Eumenes II is the Library of Pergamum. It was the second of the three famous ancient libraries which contained two hundred thousand volumes and which were given to Cleopatra a century later as a wedding present by Mark Antony to be added to the ones in the library of Alexandria. The library is located north of the Athena Sanctuary. The Library of Pergamum was rich in sources but when the Egyptians prohibited the export of papyrus, Pergamum King ordered a new material to be found which can take the place of papyrus. What they found was called parchment which was a material made of sheep or goat skin. It was polished first with pumice stone and then slit into sheets. Because of this, the word parchment is used as a synonym of the name Pergamum.

In the 2nd century Hadrian who was the successor of Trojan have the Temple of Trojan built in Pergamum in Corinthian order and dedicated it to Trojan itself. It was built of marble.

The Theatre of Pergamum is said to be the steepest raked Hellenistic theatre in the world. The cavea of the theatre consists of eighty rows of seats is divided into three sections by two diazomas. The theatre is designed for ten thousand people in which andesite was used to construct. One can see the typical Hellenistic characteristics of a theatre. Firstly it had no permanent stage building and people were able to see outside and beyond the playing area from where they were seated.

Zeus Altar can be accepted as the finest altar ever built. It was built in 180BC without a temple which is unusual. The altar which is a marble offering-table is on a huge stone plinth which also supports the double colonnade of Ionic columns.

How to Go?… Pergamum is 190km away from Kusadasi. You can either go to Pergamum by busses from Izmir or have a tour arranged by one of the travel agencies in Kusadasi.