For your fascinating Sightseeing Tour of Ancient City of Pergamon, you will be picked up from your hotel in Kusadasi and Selcuk area, in an air conditioned mini-bus.
With your English-speaking guide, you will set off on your drive to Pergamon, which takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. During the day you will stop for lunch at the 'Bergama' restaurant (payable direct). Typical Turkish food will be on offer and there will be vegetarian options.
Pergamon was an ancient Greek city, ruled by the Attalid dynasty during the Hellenistic period, 281–133 BC. On the death of the last Attalid king, the city was bequeathed to the Romans. Today, the main sites of ancient Pergamon are to the north and west of the modern city of Bergama.
Highlights of your tour include:
• Asklepion: This was a health center in Greco-Roman times. Therapies included mud baths, sports, theater, psychotherapy and medicinal waters. The famous physician and philosopher Galen, born in Pergamon in 129 AD, trained and worked here.
• Red Basilica: This huge red brick edifice, on the river near the Acropolis, was probably originally built for Serapis (a Greek-Egyptian god). Early Christians converted it into a church and dedicated it to the Apostle John. It now has a mosque in one of its towers.
• Site of Zeus Altar: The original altar on this site was built in 180 BC and is said to be the finest ever made. In 1871, it was removed from Pergamon and is now in a museum in Berlin. There is little to see at the site today; just the foundations under two large trees. But this is enough to convey the magnitude of the great shrine.
• Theater of Pergamon: Believed to be the steepest Hellenistic theatre in the world, it is designed for an audience of 10,000.
If you would like to do some shopping after your tour and get some great bargains, just tell your guide and they will arrange it for you.
At the end of your fascinating tour you will be dropped off at your hotels.