Global Treasures: Pergamon

Television Director: Ullman, Frank

Producer: Scarson, Peter O.

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Catalogue Number: GTR-DVD-1297

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Global Treasures - History's Most Protected Monuments - Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa's Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world's heritage. Join us as we explore one of these protected monuments.

Near the Turkish west coast between Troy and Ephesos, and set in all its glory, is one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient cities of this region, Pergamon.

Above the fertile plains and city of Bergama, cliffs towering up to more than three hundred metres were inhabited by the Aeolean Greeks eight centuries before Christ. In the Hellenic era it was a cosmopolitan city, the traces of which are still discernable today.

When Athens lost its political supremacy in the second century BC, Pergamon and Alexandria became the new rival powers of the ancient world. Their rulers also began to compete in both art and science, a fact that led to much progress.

In 41 BC, a large collection of 200,000 parchments was relocated to the Library of Alexandria as a wedding present from Marc Antony to Cleopatra, where it was later destroyed by fire.

Pergamon is indeed a wonder of an age of wonder!