Asclepieion of Pergamon

Asclepieion of Pergamon

The Asclepieion of *Pergamon was the **asclepieion, a healing temple built in honor of the gods Asclepius and Hygieia, and was located west of hill Pergamon.

The cult of Asclepius was established in Pergamon already in the 4th century BC. It was founded in the 1st century BC and was at first hereditary in the family of Archi, the founder of the cult. Under Eumenes II. was elevated to a state cult. The development of the Asklepieion in its known design today can be traced back to the expansion at the time of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. Later excavations also discovered the remains of the Hellenistic and even older building phases. In the 2nd century AD, the sanctuary represented the most important Asclepieion in the ancient world.

In the valley of the later Asklepieion in the area of Pergamon, some ceramic sherds from the pre-archaic and archaic times were discovered. The few remaining remains of the oldest buildings are only from the late 5th century BC and they do not allow any judgment about the appearance of the cult city. The source of the sanctuary, which is located on the so-called rock shaft, was probably already fenced off and marked as a cult place with a staircase running from west to east. Judging by the traces of processing, the surrounding rock was also removed, creating a kind of cult platform. Some remains of the walls have been found in the surrounding area. If we consider later buildings and compare them with sanctuaries of similar cultic continuity, we could conclude that it was a natural sanctum.

In the last third of the 4th century BC. in the 3rd century BC three buildings of undetermined functionality were built, one of which lay under the foundations of the later altar. The so-called staircase building was built in the 1st century BC, and its thoughtful design and exposed location indicate a special location. Its recessed space, into which a staircase leads down, could be the forerunner of the holy well, fed by a stream from a spring on a rock ledge. In the early 3rd century BC, between the southern altar and the rock bar, a so-called mosaic building was also built in the 4th century BC. The 2.70 x 2.80 meter building had a niche that opened onto the altar space and may have had a cultic function. Inside, a black and white pebble mosaic has been preserved. With the expansion of the later buildings for the enkoimeza, this building was destroyed.
In the 4th century BC the image of the shrine changed greatly: for the first time, the buildings were aligned in the four directions of the world according to a unified concept, the buildings in the center of the shrine became denser, and the size of individual buildings increased. Behind this reverence and monumentalization may have been greater support for the cult of Asclepius by the Attalid royal family, leading to a more representative design. In addition to the construction of two cult buildings on the rock shaft and the associated altars, a new facility for incubation is also documented.

Access to the Asklepieion was provided by an 820-meter-long magnificent street, which, at least in the first part, was led through the entrance building, as the via tecta was arched. The street, up to 18.50 m wide, was flanked on both sides by colonnaded halls. A tholos-shaped heron rested on the south colonnaded hall, the north hall contained a fountain that was subsequently erected. The Roman sanctuary was a courtyard surrounded by buildings and halls measuring 110 × 130 meters, with a large vestibule and a propylon in front of it to the east, where the ritual street ended.

South of the Propylon, at the edge of the courtyard was a Roman temple to Asklepios Soter or Zeus Soter Asklepios. The building is a smaller replica of the Pantheon in Rome and, with a dome diameter of 23.85 meters, had the largest brick dome in the Roman Empire and probably in the entire world at the time of its construction. In accordance with the Greek handicraft tradition, the substructure was built of neatly cut blocks without mortar joints. The magnificent hall, which corresponded to the neighboring propylon architecture - here too it is a repetition of the propylon - allowed access from the west side, i.e. to the sanctuary, via a staircase in front. The three-meter-thick wall inside was divided by seven alternating semicircular and angular niches that probably originally housed cult images. Colorful pilasters and marble inlays decorated the interior walls of the temple, which was founded in AD 142 by the Roman consul of Pergamon, Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus.

At the southeast corner of the space stood a two-story round building with an external diameter of almost 60 meters, the upper floor of which was structured with inward-facing semicircular niches. The building with a normal roof was intended for spa operation and was connected to the cult center of the complex, the sacred, radioactive spring, by an underground passage about 80 meters long.

Halls with colonnades surrounded the southern, western and northern sides of the courtyard. To the north of the northern hall was the Roman theatre, which could accommodate around 3,500 spectators with 29 rows of marble seats. As is typical of Roman theaters, it has a strictly semicircular space for spectators. Other buildings or facilities in the sanctuary were used as a place to relax.

*Pergamon was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Eolida. It is located 26 kilometers from the modern Aegean coast on a promontory on the north side of the Caicus River (today's Bakırçay) and northwest of the modern city of Bergamo in Turkiye. During the Hellenistic period, it became the capital of the Pergamon Kingdom in 281-133 BC. n. no. under the Attalid dynasty, which turned it into one of the main cultural centers of the Greek world. Many remains of his monuments are still visible, especially the masterpiece of the Altar of Pergamon.
Pergamon was the northernmost of the seven churches in Asia mentioned in the New Testament book of Revelation.
The center of the city is the 335-meter-high andesite mesa that formed its acropolis. This mesa descends steeply on the north, west and east sides, but three natural terraces on the south side provide a route to the top. To the west of the acropolis, the river Selinus (modern Bergamaçay) flows through the city, while the river Cetius (modern Kestelçay) passes by to the east.
Pergamon was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014.

**Asklepieion were healing temples in ancient Greece and the wider Hellenistic and Roman world, dedicated to Asklepios, the first physician-demigod in Greek mythology.
Asclepius was said to be such an experienced doctor that he even knew how to raise people from the dead. Based on the myth of his great healing power, pilgrims flocked to the temples built in his honor to seek spiritual and physical healing.

Literature
Oskar Ziegenaus, Gioia de Luca: Asklepieion. The Southern District of Temenos in Hellenistic and Early Roman times. de Gruyter, Berlin 1968 (Antiquities of Pergamon, vol. XI 1).
Oskar Ziegenaus: Asklepieion. The Northern Precinct of Temenos and Neighboring Complexes in Hellenistic and Early Roman Times. de Gruyter, Berlin 1975, ISBN 3-11-00487-36 (Antiquities of Pergamon, vol. XI 2).
Oskar Ziegenaus: Asklepieion. Cult buildings from Roman times on the eastern side of the Holy District. de Gruyter, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-11-00828-37 (Antiquities of Pergamon, Vol. XI, 3).
Gioia de Luca: Asclepieion. Via Tecta and Hallenstraße. Findings. de Gruyter, Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-11-00891-14 (Antiquities of Pergamon, Vol. XI, 4).
Adolf Hoffmann, Gioia de Luca: Asklepieion. Square halls and associated annexes in Roman times. de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-018347-4 (Antiquities of Pergamon, vol. XI 5).
Asclepion Healing Center (Pergamon), URL: https://via-hygeia.art/asclepion-healing-center-pergamon/, quoted 1.6.2024.