Pergamon (Bergama, Turkey): In the Snow
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2008
1
94
125
Trip End
Sep 11, 2009
Bergama,
Turkish Aegean Coast,
Turkey
Thursday, January 1, 2009
My first visit was in the Spring of 1970, in the middle of a four-year hitch-hiking trip around the world. On a night I slept on the heights of the acropolis. I woke in the pre-dawn and looked to the east. There, standing above the horizon was the Comet Bennett!
I tried to imagine what the ancients would have thought to see such a sight, long before science was able to explain what was happening. I'm sure there are records in history of their perceptions, but I, then or now, have yet to learn them. I am sure mythologies cover the subject.
Comet Bennett
On my second visit, in the summer of 2002, I was in the company of a young man (27) whom I had met on the bus ride to Bergama. Here he is pictured standing near where the bus station is now. But in 2002 we got off a bus headed for Izmir, and hitchhiked on into town.
We stashed our packs with a merchant at the base of the acropolis, and, there being no fence in those days, climbed the hillside, in the heat and humidity, the road approach going way around. Memorable to me was his exclamation, "I can't believe you are as old as my dad!"
On this third visit to Bergama/Pergamon I woke in the morning to see from the streets of town that the acropolis was covered in snow, a rare event.
I hadn't planned to go to the acropolis on this preliminary two-day visit (before a return to Ankara to spend time with G. during her school term break), but to see the acropolis in snow was something I thought could not be missed. So, up I trudged the 5km road to the top. Now there was an encircling fence, anyway.
It's tempting to post a lot of pictures of Pergamon, it is such a photogenic site. And it has a fabulous history. But anyone interested can pursue pictures and history elsewhere. And, there are tons of internet sources. Here, and in the next posting, I am really trying (struggling) to limit myself to my probably peculiar visiting experiences.
The first thing that pops into my mind is the view of the column bases in the snow
Jeff, A Travel Companion, 2002
. There was just something about their color and form in the harsh cold snow. The color and wet carved forms, precise, yet softened by time . . . . I don't know, it just had a sensual appeal to me.I thought the "Fire Danger" sign was pretty funny, considering the conditions. But, I know from experience this place is REALLY hot in the summer.
I slogged on through the 6 to 10 inches of snow, risking a sprained ankle or worse; getting my shoes soaked. Found a cat. Saw the place as not too many are likely to see it. Winter visitors seem pretty much confined to German and Japanese.
There was the base of the Pergamon Altar, which in 1972 I had gone on to see in the Pergamon Museum in (then East) Berlin. After the Parthenon in Athens the Pergamon Altar is perhaps the most stunningly beautiful of remaining ancient structures.
Finally a few of the "standard" views of the acropolis, but in snow.
The next entry will cover my return to Bergama about a week later.
Comments
Yo
Yes I read them all. Been busy lately. Sis