Bergama and the Ruins of Pergamum

As you can see from the date on this entry we have skipped a few days. We spent those days hold up in the caravan ground at Bergama. There is not much to say about those days except perhaps that the weather varied between bright winter sun and howling wind and rain. Night time temperatures below freezing as indicated by the ice on the ground in the morning. Today we are on our way again with a visit to Pergamum, the local Acropolis (fort on a hill) and the center of the old city of Bergama

The visit to the ruins of the Acropolis required us to navigate around the town center (no trucks or buses) and find our way to the cable car that carries visitors to the top of the hill on and around which the Acropolis was built. Parking at the cable car terminal was a bit tight but we were shown to a prime spot by the attendant.

We spent a couple of hours touring the site in sunny but cold weather. It is a really spectacular place. Perched on top of the hill are the remains of what must have been truely magnificent buildings. We marvelled at what people built without the aid of modern tools. We spent some time climbing up and down the theater admiring the nimbleness of the Roman patrons who presumably could walk up and down these steps even after a bit of wine.

From the ruins we dropped down into the town and spent another pleasant hour or so just walking around the narrow streets. All in all we enjoyed both the ruins and the town and would recommend it.