Asclepieion of Pergamon (Bergama Asclepion) – Izmir, Türkiye
The Asclepieion of Pergamon is an ancient healing sanctuary and medical centre dedicated to the god of health Asclepius and the goddess Hygieia, located in a lush valley to the southwest of the Pergamon acropolis, near modern Bergama in Izmir Province. In antiquity it was regarded as one of the most important Asclepieia of the Greco-Roman world, second only to Epidaurus and often compared with the sanctuary on Kos.
(Source: Turkish Museums – “Izmir Bergama The Archaeological Site of Asklepion”
Turkish Archaeological News – “Asclepieion of Pergamon”
Asclepieion of Pergamon – Wikipedia)
Archaeological evidence confirms that the first temple of Asclepius at Pergamon was built in the 4th century BC. The sanctuary expanded in parallel with the rise of the Kingdom of Pergamon and reached its peak fame in the 2nd century AD, under the Roman Empire, when Pergamon became capital of the province of Asia and was celebrated for its Asclepieion healing centre. The complex remained in use for roughly nine centuries, from the Classical period into Late Antiquity.
(Source: Turkish Archaeological News – “History of the Asclepieion of Pergamon”
UNESCO – “Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape”
History of Medicine: Ancient City of Pergamon – Turkish Museums)
Access to the sanctuary was via an 820 m long sacred road, known as the Via Tecta, part of it roofed and flanked by colonnades. This road led to a monumental propylon, opening into a large rectangular courtyard surrounded on three sides by Corinthian and Ionic stoas. In the north-west corner stood a theatre for about 3,500 spectators, used both for religious ceremonies and as part of the therapeutic programme; to the south and west were banqueting halls, council rooms and latrines, while a library and imperial hall occupied the north-east side.
(Source: Turkish Museums – Asklepion description
Turkish Archaeological News – “Sightseeing of the Asclepieion of Pergamon”)
Within the sanctuary there were holy springs, fountains and bathing pools, as well as the foundations of incubation rooms where patients spent the night. A 70–80 m long underground cryptoporticus (vaulted tunnel) connected the circular treatment building with the central courtyard and pools, serving both as a passage and as part of the healing experience. The most prominent monument was the circular Temple of Asclepius, built around AD 150 by the Roman consul Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus and modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, with thick masonry walls and a large dome (now lost).
(Source: Turkish Archaeological News – “Asclepieion of Pergamon”
Asclepieion of Pergamon – Wikipedia)
The Pergamon Asclepieion was famous for holistic treatment methods combining what we would now call physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and psychotherapy. Patients underwent cures involving bathing in or drinking from the sacred spring, mud baths, massage, herbal remedies and ointments, fasting and diet regimes, exercise and running, as well as music and theatre performances in the sanctuary’s theatre. A key element was incubation (temple sleep): patients slept in special dormitories where they hoped to receive healing dreams from Asclepius; priests and physicians then interpreted these dreams to determine the course of treatment.
(Source: Turkish Museums – Asklepion description
Turkish Archaeological News – “Asclepieion of Pergamon”
Asclepieion – Wikipedia)
The most illustrious figure associated with the site is the physician Galen (Claudius Galenus), born in Pergamon in AD 129. According to ancient sources, Galen began his medical studies at the Asclepieion at the age of sixteen, before continuing his education elsewhere and eventually becoming court physician to Roman emperors, including Marcus Aurelius. His writings on anatomy, physiology and pharmacology shaped medical thought for more than a millennium and contributed significantly to the reputation of Pergamon as a centre of medicine.
(Source: History of Medicine: Ancient City of Pergamon – Turkish Museums
Via Hygeia – “Asclepion Healing Center (Pergamon)”
Turkish Archaeological News – “Asclepieion of Pergamon”)
According to later literary tradition, an inscription at the entrance declared that “Death is forbidden to enter the Asclepieion”, underlining the sanctuary’s role as a place of hope and recovery rather than despair. Today, the Asclepieion is part of the UNESCO World Heritage property “Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape” and, with its sacred road, stoas, theatre, pools, tunnels and temple foundations, offers visitors one of the most evocative surviving layouts of an ancient healing complex.
(Source: UNESCO – “Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape”
Turkish Archaeological News – “Asclepieion of Pergamon”
The Mysterious Healing Centre of Asklepion in Pergamum – Ancient Origins)