page_title: Pergamon
section_title: Serapis Temple
hierarchical_section_title: Pergamon / Main sights / At the foot of the Acropolis / Serapis Temple
caption_attribution_description: Pergamon
context_page_description: Pergamon or Pergamum, also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos, was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located 26 kilometres from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus and northwest of the modern city of Bergama, Turkey.
  During the Hellenistic period, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon under the Attalid dynasty in 281–133 BC, who transformed it into one of the major cultural centres of the Greek world. Many remains of its impressive monuments can still be seen and especially the outstanding masterpiece of the Pergamon Altar. Pergamon was the northernmost of the seven churches of Asia cited in the New Testament Book of Revelation.
  The city is centered around a 335-metre-high mesa of andesite which formed its acropolis. This mesa falls away sharply on the north, west, and east sides, but three natural terraces on the south side provide a route up to the top. To the west of the acropolis, the Selinus River flows through the city, while the Ketios river passes by to the east.
context_section_description: Pergamon's other notable structure is the great temple of the Egyptian gods Isis and/or Serapis, known today as the "Red Basilica" (or Kızıl Avlu in Turkish), about one kilometre (0.62 miles) south of the Acropolis at (39 7' 19" N, 27 11' 1" E). It consists of a main building and two round towers within an enormous temenos or sacred area. The temple towers flanking the main building had courtyards with pools used for ablutions at each end, flanked by stoas on three sides. The forecourt of the Temple of Isis/Sarapis is still supported by the 193-metre-wide (633-foot) Pergamon Bridge, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.
  According to Christian tradition, in the year 92 Saint Antipas, the first bishop of Pergamum ordained by John the Apostle, was a victim of an early clash between Serapis worshippers and Christians. An angry mob is said to have burned Saint Antipas alive in front of the Temple inside a brazen bull-like incense burner, which represented the bull god Apis. His martyrdom is one of the first recorded in Christian history, highlighted by the Christian Scripture itself through the message sent to the Pergamon Church in the Book of Revelation.
caption: Panoramic view of Pergamon and the modern city of Bergama.
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