Cannakale and Pergamon

To Cannakale Sept 23

We left Izmir and started our next leg of the journey. We travelled around the gulf of Izmir and on parellel to the Aegean Sea as we travel north. We continue through furtile lands for 150 miles and Ziya talks to us about marriages in Turkey.

Our first stop along the way was at Pergamon Acropolis. Named for Pergamom, the grandson of the legendary founder of Troy.

Pergamom was an important place in the ancient times. It was the treasury center, also center of arts and intellectuals. Parchment was invented here – thus the name Pergamom and good parchment paper today.

Christianity found a home here. The Egyptian gods Serapes and Isis converted to Christianity and the gospel was preached in the temples which were converted to churches. They were occupied until the 6th Century.

Pergamom shows the remains of a very large library. It is claimed to have had 200,000 scrolls (and the first books). Mark Anthony later took all the library books to give to Cleopatra and over the ages every book has been lost – none remain.

The platform for the Temple of Zeus is also here but years ago the actual statue was taken to Berlin and is in a museum there.

There are bits of the temple to Trajan and also Hadrien. A large theatre is embedded into the side hill. It was capable of seating 8000 people.

From here it was 50 miles to Philadelphia.

Now it's off down the hill and across the valley to Asklepieion (who was the god of medicine). He was the son of Appollo.

Three Asklepieions were built, 2 in this area and one on the island of Kos. There were built as sacred healing centres These were not regular hospitals but people came here when there was no help left at standard medical facilities.

In Asklepieion we saw the theatre area of temple ruins. There was a long roadway, paved with stones, and walkways on each side. A standard style for cities.

I walked through a large circular building that was almost totally underground. It was interesting with arches and large square pillars. It was probably a treatment center.