This tour explores the site of the Ascylepium, where the physician Galen introduced some of his methods to cure the ill and the mentally disordered, the Acropolis of Pergamum, which is home to the Temple of Trajan, where one of the greatest libraries of antiquity was built, and where the Great Altar of Zeus was, before it was transferred to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Our last stop is the archaeological museum of Bergama.
We will start the day with a visit to the Ascylepium; the site is dedicated to Ascylepius, the god of health. This is a beautiful site built as an ancient health center at a time when Greeks were introducing the foundations of medicine. Galen was born and raised here before he traveled to Rome as the Imperial Physician. Galen’s surgical and other revolutionary methods were first used here at the Ascylepium, and this visit is a nice walk through the site.
We will then take a cable car up to the acropolis followed by a walk up the hill to explore the Temple of Trajan. We will then visit antiquity’s steepest theater built on the slopes and talk about theaters in antiquity before visiting the site of the Altar of Zeus. Pergamum definitely occupied an important space in its time with its major artifacts, and the library is no doubt one of Pergamum’s major contributions to the society. Although we will not see a library here, our guide will provide us with information about libraries and their importance in the history of humanity.
Our final visit today, is the archaeological museum in Bergama, where we will see artifacts from the sites we visited.
This tour is available on any day.
Included services
- Transportation with an A/C luxury minivan
- Professional guiding
- A la carte lunch with soft drinks
- Admission fees to the museums and sights
- Taxes
Excluded services