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The healing centre of the ancient world

Pergamon : after Athens lost its political importance in the 2nd century BC, Pergamon of Asia Minor and Alexandria of Egypt became the two main centres of ancient civilisation. At this time Pergamon's famous library and the Temple of Zeus were constructed along with the vast artificial terraces on the hillside, which allowed the city to spread downward. All its rulers were devoted patrons of the arts and sciences, with exception of the last, Attalus III, who in an act of extraordinary eccentricity bequeathed his entire kingdom to Rome. Pergamon, henceforth became the capital of the roman province of Asia, which stretched as far south as Caunos. The most spectacular structure is certainly the theatre, a remarkable piece of engineering built into the steep hillside. At the Acropolis, a vast gymnasium, the Temple of Demeter and Helenistic houses and shops on the streets rutted by chariot wheels are the places to visit. The lowest part of the the city is now largely covered by the modern town of Bergama. The collosal Roman "Red Basillicia" was originally a temple of Serapis and later concerted to a church by the Byzantines. Finally, the Asclepion, the foremost medical centre of the world, founded primarily on the fame and reputation of medical writer of late antiquity, who was born in Pergamon in AD 29.