Pergamon
Pergamon lies on the north edge of the Caicus plain in the historic region of Mysia in the northwest of Turkey. The Caicus river breaks through the surrounding mountains and hills at this point and flows in a wide arc to the southwest. At the foot of the mountain range to the north, between the rivers Selinus and Cetius, there is the massif of Pergamon which rises 335 metres above sea level. The site is only 26 km from the sea, but the Caicus plain is not open to the sea, since the way is blocked by the Karadağ massif. As a result, the area has a strongly inland character. In Hellenistic times, the town of Elaia at the mouth of the Caicus served as the port of Pergamon. The climate is Mediterranean with a dry period from May to August, as is common along the west coast of Asia Minor.
Pergamon Altar
The altar lost its function at the latest in Late Antiquity, when Christianity replaced and suppressed polytheistic religions. In the 7th century the acropolis of Pergamon was strongly fortified as a defense against the Arabs. In the process the Pergamon Altar, among other structures, was partially destroyed in order to reuse the building material. The city was nevertheless defeated in 716 by the Arabs, who temporarily occupied it before abandoning it as unimportant. It was only resettled in the 12th century. In the 13th century Pergamon fell to the Turks.