Temple of Trajan
Pergamon, Turkey
October 2, 2008
Pergamon, Turkey
October 2, 2008
Like many of the ruins that dot the Aegean Coast, the best bits of the ancient Greek city of Pergamom can be found in the Berlin Museum. Fortunately what’s left behind on the windswept hill not far from the modern Turkish town of Bergama is still worthy of it’s glorious origins.
Pergamon was known as a great center of science and learning in it’s day. The renowned physician Galen was based here and his work is still credited as forming the foundation of much of Western Medicine. The vaste library once rivaled that of Alexandria’s. It was so well regarded that Marc Antony apparently raided it’s shelves to provide Cleopatra with a wedding gift and to replenish the volumes Julius Caesar’s minions burned at Alexandria.
The Temple of Trajan (photo above) is one of the best preserved remaining structures although standing under it’s gleaming white columns it’s hard to believe it was one of the smaller structures in the complex. It’s not surprising people believed in living gods and mythological creatures when confronted daily with the marvel that must have been ancient Pergamon.
