Bergama Kozak – Pergamon Turkey, Antique City

Pergamon, The abundance of Bakırçay…

All the significant port and commercial cities of the ancient world had beed set up over the deltas where the rivers fall into the seas. Thus the Antique Milet had been set up at the mouth of Menderes River, Ephesus had been set up over Kaystros, Smryna had been set up near Hermos and Pergamon had been founded at the point where Bakırçay (Kaikos) joins the sea. Since the big silts filled up the sea, the city had remained in the interior. Pergamon situated to the north of the plain irrigated by Bakırçay has been one of the most ancient and important cities of the Archaic age. It was governed by the Persian King Gonylos of Eretria and then, captured by Alexander the Great in 334 BC; after his death, the rulers changed two times and finally General Philetairos made it a big kingdom and thus it has been one of the glorious centers of the Hellenistic age for 150 years. Pergamon is one of the most attractive antique cities of Anatolia with the library, architecture, temples, monuments and health centers… Who knows since how many centuries Bakırçay flowing on the Aegean soil witnesses the history of Pergamon?

Water is life!..

The city of Pergamon set up over a high mountain had been deprived of natural water resourcesç However, the residents of this metropolis had lived in a more civilies manner compared to our days due to the irrigation system built by themselves. The city laws arranging the daily life had also organised the water procurement, distribution and conservation. The earthenware water pipes and lead pipes traversing roads of kms. long, had gone through three vallets and two hills and had been carried to acropolis in other words the Upper City… The cisterns, earthenware pipe network, high pressure lines, water reservoirs and aqueducts provide us important clues about the standart of the ancient life in Pergamon…

Dams of the new world..

The city of Pergamon is set up over a hill called Kale (Castle) or Kent Dağı (City Mountain). Two rivers arise from these hills standing back to back with Kozak Mountains and irrigate two whole plain. Selinos (Pergamon) and Ketios (Kestel) brooks have been collected currently in a irrigation dam and have formed such a landscape…..

Different views from the Red Courtyard squeezed among the concrete buildings of Pergomon today…

The Red Courtyard or The Temple of The Egyptian Gods

This edifice dedicated to the God of Egypt Serapis during the age of the Roman Emperor Hadrianus in the 2nd Century Ad is called “Red Courtyard” by the people since it’s built of red bricks. The edifice squeezed among the houses of Pergamon today had been the biggest and the highest brick building of the Roman age temples. This magnificent basilica covers an area of 260 x 100 m. including the courtyard and the height is actually nearly 19m. The marble area at the entrance of the edifice is considered as the biggest marble bloc in Pergamon.

Various statues of the Egyptian art have been unearthed during the excavation which still go on. The bricks used to build the Serapis Temple are supposed to be brought from the bricks quarries on the shores of Bakırçay. During the Byzantine age, a church had been built in the courtyard of the Red Courtyard and dedicated to the Apostle John. One of the towers of the Serapis Temple served as a prison in the Ottoman age and the other one still serves as a mosque…

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