Today we drove to another ancient site, back up the road from Foça, having first to run the pollution gauntlet.  Yesterday, we went through a heavy industrial area outside Aliağa in a valley that was so dense with smog (and thick with large truck/trailer rigs) that we strongly considered not retracing our path to visit Pergamum.  Our pansiyon host confirmed that there was no other reasonable route to and from Foça from the north.  However, Phyllis always has a hard time passing up reputedly fine ancient ruins, and Craig is very tolerant, so back we went.  Pergamum is a well-established site, compete with a cable car that takes you from a parking area up the steep hillside to the spread-out ruins.

While popular, Pergamum is not nearly as crowded as some sites (like we hear Ephesus is to the south).  For one thing, it’s perched on a very steep hillside and it’s a challenge to walk around it all.  It dates to Trojan times but its heyday was between the time of Alexander the Great and when it became a Roman province in 129 B.C. through the ruler’s will.  (That must have disappointed the next of kin.)  The 10,000-seat amphitheater is a highlight, not least because it is (due to that hillside) much steeper and narrower than most.  Since the ancient Greeks didn’t have enough hillside to make it the usual rounded width, they made it taller instead, facing steeply off into the valley.  One almost gets vertigo just standing at the top.  Also, seeing the remains of the aqueduct by which water was conveyed up this hugely steep hillside from mountains 45 kilometers away was stunning; one is amazed that they could build such a system over such a distance and over so much elevation change. The Temple of Trajan above the theater is huge and enough remains or has been restored to get a good sense of its scale.  A temple to Dionysus at the foot of the theater has another stunning view with the bases of huge columns still showing the mechanics of how the parts were fastened together.

There were more ruins scattered down the hillside that would have been fun to see while walking back downhill to the car park, but we were worried there might not be an exit that way and were feeling too wimpy to walk all the way down and then back up.  And indeed, as we rode the cable car back down, we carefully scrutinized the fence underneath us for openings and, upon seeing none, confirmed how big a mistake walking would have been.  On our way to the cable car, we encountered an older lady limping towards the tower, and Craig helped her negotiate the path.  She was from Chicago, with a group retracing the steps of St. Paul (though we could not locate any specific reference to Paul having been there).  She had forgotten her walking sticks in the bus, but we’re not sure she could have made it very far at this site even with that aid.  Once again, we are reminded how lucky we are to be doing these trips while we have the physical ability to enjoy them.

One last drive through Pollution Alley and we were back in Foça in time for a walk along the harbor promenade and a stop in a waterfront café for an Efes.  It was a windy enough day that we were thankful for the canvas with which most cafes have, in winter, surrounded their patios for shelter.  This must be a wonderful place to linger over a drink in the summer, but it’s pretty pleasant even now.