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06/06/2024

Pergamon Museum 12

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Pergamon Museum 11

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Pergamon Museum 11

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Pergamon Museum 10

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Pergamon Museum 9

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Pergamon Museum 8

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Pergamon Museum 7

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Pergamon Museum 6

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Pergamon Museum 5

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Pergamon Museum 4

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Pergamon Museum 3

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Pergamon Museum 2

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Pergamon Museum 1

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The bridge substruction features two parallel and linear barrel vaults which are separated by a continuously running partition wall. While the uphill entrances of the double tube are on the same level, the exits on the down-valley side are spaced at a 13 m (43 ft) interval, leading to a significant difference in length between the western (183 m (600 ft)) and the eastern branch (196 m (643 ft)). Due to a later built-in 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high threshold, parts of the western tube are today silted up.

The dimensions of both semi-circular arches are practically identical: the clear spans are 9 m (30 ft) each, the rise from the springing line to the apex of the arch 4.5 m (15 ft) and the clearance to ground level measures 7.5 m (25 ft). The vaults are built of rubble bound with mortar, and rest on an ashlar stone base.

Up- and downstream of the bridge substruction are another two well-preserved ancient bridges across the Selinus, called Tabak Köprüsü and Üc Kemer Köprüsü (Three Arch Bridge).

21/05/2024

The Pergamon Bridge is a Roman substruction bridge over the Selinus river. The 196 m (643 ft) wide structure, the largest of its kind in antiquity, was designed during Hadrian's reign (AD 117–138) in order to form a passageway underneath a large court in front of the monumental Red Basilica temple complex. The two intact tubes, which consist of supporting walls covered with barrel vaults, still serve their purpose to this day.

Although the Pergamon Bridge is, due to its extraordinary width, often misleadingly called a tunnel, it should rather be treated as a bridge substruction, since the entire structure was erected above ground, which necessitates construction techniques more akin to bridge building and very different from those employed in tunnel-driving.

For urban development, such substructions are regarded as particularly useful for providing large open spaces in densely populated inner city areas. This was also the case in Pergamon, as the building of the Serapis Temple required the bridging of an entire section of the River Selinus in order to create sufficient space for a large platform in front of the temple.

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Red Basilica 2

Although the building itself is of an immense size, it was only one part of a much larger sacred complex, surrounded by high walls, that dwarfed even the colossal Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek. The entire complex was built directly over the River Selinus in a remarkable feat of engineering that involved the construction of an immense bridge 196 metres (643 ft) wide to channel the river through two channels under the temple.

The Pergamon Bridge still stands today, supporting modern buildings and even vehicle traffic. A series of tunnels and chambers lies under the main temple, connecting it with the side rotundas and giving private access to different areas of the complex. Various drains, water channels and basins are located in, around and under the main temple and may have been used for symbolic reenactments of the flooding of the Nile.

At some point during the Christian era the temple was gutted by fire. It was not restored, but was redeveloped in the 5th century AD as a Christian basilica, built inside the shell of the destroyed temple. Today the ruins of the main temple and one of the side rotundas can be visited.

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Red Basilica 1

The 'Red Basilica', also called variously the Red Hall and Red Courtyard, is one of the largest Roman structures still surviving in the ancient Greek world. The temple is thought to have been used for the worship of Egyptian gods, specifically Isis and/or Serapis, and possibly also Osiris, Harpocrates and other lesser gods, who may have been worshipped in a pair of drum-shaped rotundas, both of which are virtually intact, alongside the main temple.

The temple's date of construction is not recorded, but from the style of the sculptures and the building techniques a date in the first half of the second century AD has been proposed. Its use of red brick on a massive scale, unique in Asia Minor but relatively common in Italy at the time, indicates that the architect was not local. The immense size and lavish construction of the complex points to an extremely wealthy patron who sent a Roman architect and brick masons to Pergamon to build the temple. The most likely candidate is the emperor Hadrian himself. He is known to have been an enthusiastic sponsor of the Egyptian gods; he built temples of Isis and Serapis at various places in the Roman world, including at his own villa in Tivoli.

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Pergamon Amphitheater 4

Despite several reports, no detailed publication about the amphitheater in Pergamon has been made until today. During the last excavations two blocks of seats inscribed with the names of ancient spectators angling for a prime viewing experience were uncovered.

Most of the other seats were simple steps made from a cheap, whitish volcanic stone called tufa. The inscribed seats, however, were carved from grayish-black volcanic andesite, which was more expensive. They also had high backs that would have made for a more comfortable day at the arena. It is believed that the stone seats, were purchased or rented for periodical use.

Some names inscribed on these blocks are Greek. Others are Roman names written in Greek letters. Some names were chiseled deeply into the stone while most of the others were more crudely etched. Archeologists suggest that certain citizens commissioned a stonemason to carve their names, while some others just carved the names by themselves who tried to reserve particularly attractive seats for themselves and their family and friends.

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Pergamon Amphitheater 3

In Roman times, amphitheaters were mainly the scene of gladiatorial and animal fights. Since this building was built between two slopes, separated by a stream which is transmitted via a vaulted water channel, it can be assumed that in the arena naval combat or water games could be performed. In any case, construction costs could most likely be reduced. However no prove of any structural remnants in the arena could be identified. The one and only basis for this assumption was the existence of the vaulted water channel.

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Pergamon Amphitheater 2

The Selinus River, which runs in the lower town of Bergama and forms a bridge to the city with the structures overbuilt on it thus makes it the longest river of ancient times with this feature. The river flows under the Red Hall as well as through the longitudinal axis of the amphitheatre.

This difficult location had its advantages. On the one hand, the water needed in the arena was immediately available, on the other hand, the location had the advantage that the natural slopes of the river course could serve as a substructure for the lower rows of seats.