Pergamon

Pergamon, also known as Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in western Asia Minor, situated on a steep hill overlooking the surrounding landscape and near the modern town of Bergama, Turkey. It rose to prominence in the Hellenistic period as the capital of the Attalid kingdom, founded by Philetaerus around 281 BCE and developed by his successors. Under the Attalids, Pergamon became a major cultural, political, and intellectual center, rivaling other great cities of the era.

The city was renowned for its library and its scholarship, with a strong tradition of writing and book production. The Library of Pergamum was celebrated in antiquity and is associated with the term parchment, which is traditionally linked to Pergamon. The urban complex included an acropolis with the Asclepieion healing cult, a large theatre, and monumental temples. The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, famous for its high-relief Gigantomachy frieze, became a defining monument of Hellenistic art; most of the altar's sculpture is now housed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, alongside other remnants.

In 133 BCE, Attalus III bequeathed Pergamon and its territories to Rome, and the city became part of the Roman province of Asia. It remained a significant cultural hub under Roman rule, but declined in late antiquity due to earthquakes and shifting trade routes. By the medieval period it was largely abandoned as a major urban center. Today the site is an important archaeological ruin, located at Bergama, Turkey, preserving remnants of its temples, theatre, library, and other monumental structures for study and display.