Asclepion
Asclepion was a very large and famous health and medical center of ancient World located 2 km from the center of Bergama.
Asclepion was connected to the Pergamon with a sacred 820 m long road which some part of the road is uncovered today.
The colonnaded road after the ticket Office will lead you to the inner parts of Asclepion. Treatment areas, healing pools, mud baths , sleeping rooms that used in the treatments of Psychiatric problems, theater and tunnel which connects the sacred pools to sleeping rooms are places to visit.
The column embellished with 2 snake figures facing each other has a very important role in the history as it is accepted the symbol of Medicine today.
The story of the Asclepius ( Medicine ) Symbol;
The patients of Asclepion were admitted there after strict examinations. The ones with terminal ilnesses were not accepted there however one of the patients who already accepted there were caught to a malignant disease and doctors were quiet desperate about his situation.
The patient leaves a glass of milk everyday in front of his window and waits the snakes to come and drink milk from that glass when the snakes drink some of the milks he drinks the rest of the milk by this way he aims to drink the poison of snake and die earlier. But the secretion of the snakes in the milk unlike his expectations help him to heal.
The snake figures that symbolyzes this story are embellished on the column have become the symbol of medicine in the World.