Turkey (20)

When the alarm went on the Tuesday morning, the sun hadn't quite come up as yet, either, but at least we only were to get woken at the time and needn't be on the bus already, like on the previous day.
But the view from our balcony towards the town of Ayvalik in the light of the dawning day was lovely, and I was happy to be up this early, and if only for these colours!

By the time our bus left from the hotel, the sun had risen already, and on we went, across the dam/bridge, through Ayvalik (which stretches quite far alongside the coastline, we were surprised to see how far away the real town centre actually was, it wasn't anywhere near the marina!), and on to Bergamo, which in former days as known as Pergamon.

Well, the modern town of Bergamo on the FOOT of the hill may not have been there when the proud town of Pergamon was thriving on the top of the hill.

Wikipedia says about Pergamon:

"Während des 3. und 2. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. war Pergamon Hauptstadt des Pergamenischen Reiches, das sich über große Teile des westlichen Kleinasiens erstreckte. Unter der kunstsinnigen Dynastie der Attaliden, die bestrebt war, ein neues Athen zu schaffen, wurde die Stadt zu einem der bedeutendsten Kulturzentren des Hellenismus." (Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon )
Oh. Oops. That was from the German Wikipedia site, the English reads as follows:
"Pergamon or Pergamum (Greek: Πέργαμος, 39°7′N 27°11′E / 39.117, 27.183) was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, north-western Anatolia, 16 miles from the Aegean Sea, located on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern day Bakırçay), that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC. Today, the main sites of ancient Pergamon are to the north and west of the modern city of Bergama" (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamum)

Below, there's a view from the top of the mountain down to the remains of the Asclepieion of Pergamon, one of the earliest "spas" there ever were. Read the Wikipedia text on those:
"In ancient Greece, an asclepieion (or asklepieion) was a healing temple, sacred to the god Asclepius.
Starting around 300 BC, the cult of Asclepius became increasingly popular. Pilgrims flocked to asclepieia to be healed. They slept overnight and reported their dreams to a priest the following day. He prescribed a cure, often a visit to the baths or a gymnasium. Since snakes were sacred to Asclepius, they were often used in healing rituals. Non-venomous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept.
Pausanias remarked that, at the asclepieion of Titane in Sikyonia (founded by Alexanor, Asclepius' grandson), statues of Hygieia were covered by women's hair and pieces of Babylonian clothes. According to inscriptions, the same sacrifices were offered at Paros.
Hippocrates is said to have received his medical training at an asclepieion on the isle of Kos. Prior to becoming the personal physician to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Galen treated and studied at the famed asclepieion at Pergamon." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepieion )

Old Pergamon versus modern Bergamo on the foot of the mountain, as can be seen from the side of the large theatre of Pergamon. That theatre, so we learned, is the steepest of all, and indeed, I found you better not be afraid of heights when you were in there!