Bergama

Template: Infobox city in Turkey / Maintenance / County

Bergama ( Pergamum Latin, Greek Pergamon ) is a town and district of Izmir province near the west coast of Asia Minor in modern Turkey with 57 947 inhabitants. In ancient times the city was Pergamos, in the Hellenistic period the capital of Attalids, which extended over large parts of western Asia Minor. Its ruins are research subject of excavations of the German Archaeological Institute.

History

The history in antiquity and to the excavation history, see the article Pergamon.

After 1300 the Turks had immigrated in Asia Minor, Bergama belonged to Beylik Karesi. When the Ottomans under Sultan Orhan I. annexed the Beylik, the city became the judicial district ( kaza ) of the Sanjak Khudāwendigār ( Bursa) in eyalet Anatolia, later of the Sanjak İzmir in the Vilayet of Aydın. In the years 1919-1923 Bergama was occupied by Greek troops. As part of the population exchange after the Treaty of Lausanne, the city lost its Greek inhabitants and was inhabited by displaced Turks from Greece. In 1950, the population was given as 16,500.

Twinning

Bergama maintains partnerships with the following cities:

• Böblingen, Germany (since 1967)
• Asenovgrad, Bulgaria ( since 1992)

Famous people

• Hüsnü Şenlendirici, musicians
• Semih Kaya, Turkish soccer player

Crafts

In the circle carpets are woven, which also take the place name:

• Yagcibedir
• Kazdağı
• Yuntdagi
• Yuncu Karakecili
• Kozak

Some older specimens are exhibited in the State Archaeological Museum on site.