Dikili Shore Excursion

This private Dikili shore trip explores the Acropolis and Museum of Pergamum, the ancient health center of Asclepion, and the modern city of Bergama.

Your licensed guide will meet you in front of Dikili's port terminal. As your drive north from there you pass fertile fields and olive groves on your way to Bergama, once known as Pergamum, a great center of ancient culture. The ancient city was a capital of the Pergamum Kingdom, and it was here that parchment paper was invented.

Today, Pergamum is one of Turkey's finest archaeological sites. Take the cable car up to the Acropolis to see the remains of the citadel and the city walls, the foundations of the Zeus Altar (the carving of which are now in Berlin at the Pergamum Museum), and the Royal Palace. The famous Pergamum Library once contained 200.000 scrolls that were given as a gift to Cleopatra by Mark Anthony after the burning of the Library at Alexandria.

Walk through the Agora and see the restored Trajan Temple and the remains of the Demeter, Athena and Dionysus Temples. On the steep slopes of the Acropolis you will overlook the Theater which once held as many as 15.000 spectators, and see the modern town and surrounding hills stretch out into the distance.

Next you visit the Asclepion, a healing center from the 4th century BC and one of the most important sites of Pergamum. Here fortunate patients received herbal, aquatic, physical and psychological treatment for their ailments. Then you visit the Temple of Asclepios, the amphitheater, and walk through the sacred corridor and down the ancient, arcaded, marble-paved boulevard while the Acropolis towers above you in the distance.

Next you have free time for lunch (meal not included) in the modern city of Bergama. You could return to your ship for lunch after a morning tour or we can arrange a stop in Bergama for lunch. This is a rural part of Turkey so you will not find high end restaurants but you will be able to have very typical Turkish meal for local working class people. Very little English is spoken here so the guide will join you for lunch and will translate / make suggestions etc. for the meal. Please note that in many restaurants alcohol is not served.

Early this afternoon you return to the cruise terminal in Dikili.

Mobility: No Wheelchairs