Tracing an ancient monument within a multi-layered historical - urban context: the octagonal structure in Pergamon/Bergama

Abstract

A large part of Bergama has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site due to to its rich history that transformed the city into a ‘multi-layered cultural landscape’. As these cultural and urban layers often overlap, the remains of older layers are hidden beneath the younger ones. This paper examines this phenomenon by focusing on the octagonal structure. In the last decade, scattered remains of ancient walls and enclosed spaces have been discovered, incorporated into the houses in the former neighbourhood of Greeks and Armenians. The long-lost monument, the octagonal structure, is situated at the southern skirt of the fortified city hill of Pergamon, facing towards the Kaikos (Bakırçay) plain. As the (Hellenistic) Attalid kingdom’s capital city, the city hill of Pergamon once incorporated not only the palaces of the royal family but also a great variety of monuments. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the rediscovery of the octagonal structure by giving references from its research history, describing current access routes to the structure, and interpreting the concept of ‘multi-layered city’ based on its state of preservation. The study of a monument which is buried under private properties is highlighted as another challenge, not only in terms of potential accessibility issues but also in terms of conditions affecting observation and documentation. The octagonal structure at Pergamon is presented here as a case study to emphasise the potential of discoveries in multi-layered cities.