Located 100 Km North Of
İzmir İn the
Bakırçay River Basin,
Bergama as one of
Turkey’s oldest civilized settlements has yielded archaeological treasures of worldwide importance starting from prehistoric times through the
Ionic,
Roman and
Byzantine civilizations.
Bergama which was under the rule of
Alexander the Great after his invasion of the city later became the capitol city of
Pergamum Kingdom which was founded in the
Hellenistic period.
Attalos III has left the city to the
Roman Empire in 133 BC. The most important remnants found here today are a temple built by
Emperor Hadrian in the name of
Emperor Traian , a 10.000 seat capacity theater building, the
Temple of Athena, the foundations of
Zeus Altar which were brought to
Berlin Museum after being unearthed, The
Dionysos House in the section called
Middle City, remnants of
Asklepios Temple who was believed to heal people and the
Serapis Temple. Some of these monuments were preserved up to the present day. The excavations in
Bergama were started by
Carl Humman and
Alexander Conze and continued by
Theodor Wiegand. A museum was established to exhibit the findings found during these excavations and the museum was opened for visit on October 30th 1936 by the governor of
İzmir,
Fazlı Güleç. The museum buildings consists of two hangars and two galleries surrounding an inner courtyard. In the year 1924 archaeological opuses , too, were taken to the new museum building. Most of the archaeological opuses in the museum which belong to various periods from early bronze era to the
Byzantine period have been found in the excavations made in
Bergama and its surrounding. The museum is open to visit everyday except Mondays between 08.30 and 17.30.
