$32.2 mln allocated to revive ancient city of Pergamon

IZMIR

A budget of 1 billion Turkish Liras ($32.2 million) has been allocated to bring the cultural heritage of the ancient city of Pergamon into both the national and international arena, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has announced.

Reminding that the "Heritage to the Future Pergamon" project started in 2019, Ersoy stated that significant contributions have been obtained from the practice implemented in 133 excavation sites as of the end of 2023 and that 144 excavations were carried out on a 12-month basis this year.

"We are organizing all opportunities to reach our goal of doing in four years what has been done in Turkish archaeology in 60 years, so that the cultural assets we have, especially our ancient cities, can be unearthed as soon as possible," he said.

Ersoy noted that Pergamon is the best example of an Hellenistic period city planning with its monumental architecture and emphasized that structures such as the Temple of Athena, theater, library, temples of Zeus and Dionysus, agora and gymnasium are the most outstanding examples of the architecture of the period.

Stating that Pergamon Amphitheater has a high tourism potential as a symbol of Roman architecture, Ersoy said they will make this area accessible to tourism with a conservation and landscaping project.

Ersoy expressed that they have also allocated a separate budget for the repair, display and arrangement of the building of the Pergamon Archaeological Museum and said that they plan to start work here immediately.

He added that the information and guidance signs regarding the ancient structures will also be renewed and the area will be made understandable with the information provided.

Emphasizing that they are concentrating on projects, Ersoy said, "We will complete these projects by working extremely hard. As a result, we will ensure that the ancient city of Pergamon takes its well-deserved place in the national and international culture-tourism showcase. The budget we have earmarked for this process is 1 billion liras."