Pergamum - Thyatira

Saturday, we began our tour in the ancient town of Pergamum, one of the seven churches of Asia as mentioned in Revelation. Pergamum was built on a hilltop so we had to take a cable car ride up. The view was spectacular!

Once we reached the top, the hill was covered in ruins of this ancient town. Pergamum was a large, luxurious town. They built the third largest library in the world in this city. They were very smart people due to the fact that they built s temple on the side of a hill with an arch support system. They wanted to build a large temple to Trajan but they needed a flat service. By building multiple arches, they were able to make a large enough surface to build the temple on. Their system reminds me of how our foot is arched and our whole body's weight is supported by the arch. 

Ancient Agora

Arch system under the temple

Library

Library

Mausoleum

Room for Prostitution

Temple to Dionysos

Temple of Trajan 

Temple of Trajan

Temple of Trajan

Next, we went to a very unique theater. It is the steepest theater in the ancient world. It was huge and the acoustics were amazing. 

The last place we went to in ancient Pergamum was to the Temple of Zeus. Scholars believe that this temple was the Throne of Satan that John mentions in his letter to the church in Pergamum in Revelation 2. How cool is that?!

View from Pergamum

Next, we went to Askelpion, the ancient hospital in Pergamum, Turkey. In, fact, it was the only one in Turkey. The closest one besides that was in Greece. This hospital was started when a man fell of his horse and hurt his leg terribly. He had to go to Greece to get the treatment. When he returned, he decided to build a hospital in Turkey and chose Pergamum as the place. The ancient doctor, Galen, who first discovered different diseases and wrote them down in books, worked in this hospital. 

To finish up the afternoon, we went and visited the site where the church of Thyatira was found. Thyatira is also one of the seven churches of Asia as mentioned by John in his letters in the book of Revelation. The church was all that was left of this town because more towns were built on top of the ancient one over the years. 

Three churches down, four to go!