Sunday 6 November Dikili
Ashore by tender. J did a tour until 3. I went to the gym, came 3rd in quiz with the Girls and Mr/Mrs Surgeon/Teacher. Jess made a meal of the questions. Straight off ashore to find internet place. Saw the buses coming back but J was in the last one. We met at buffet Afternoon quiz – came 2nd in the tiebreak. 35 people fit in a liferaft!
J went to the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamum. This was once an important city and has had its fair share of major historical figures. Alexander the Great had gathered such a huge treasure trove of gold that his armies could not carry it, so it was left in the armoury at Pergamum under the care of one of his most trusted generals. Who after Alexander perished managed to take control of the area as he had the vast majority of the wealth.
This site has the world’s steepest amphitheatre which is carved into the hillside at a 70 degree slope. It could seat 14,000 people.
The two storey library here was second only to Alexandria Library. When the leaders in Egypt thought that it may overtake their library they banned all exporting of papyrus, at that time the only form of paper. This led to a librarian discovering that you could write on both sides of parchment (animal hide) and then onto the construction of the first book. The two most famous books that were once here were Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. When Marc Antony came through, he ‘stole’ all the books and moved them to Alexandria for his beloved Cleopatra.
Yes the place is in ruins, but you can clearly see the layout and the majority of the outer walls are in place lower down the hillside. It is so high that they have built a cable car to reach the top which makes it painless to get there. Views over the surrounding country side are pretty good.
Viewed from below
Shopping arcade
We moved on to the Asclepion. Which was a medical/healing centre, the first of its kind in the world apparently. Hippocrates was a student and then a doctor here.
Sacred walk; patients walked naked towards the hospital healing area
Ampitheatre that was used for lectures and group counselling sessions
Ruins of the sleeping cells (Ward rooms)
Astonishingly, we faded before 10pm and fell straight asleep.
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