The Asclepion is one of the most significant landmarks of ancient architecture, a temple of Pergamon, a Greek city that was located on the ground of the modern city of Bergama, Turkey. It was built in the 4th century BCE by ancient Greeks who worshipped Asclepius, a god of medicine. That’s where the name “Asclepion” comes from. The ancient religious cult of Asclepius was so popular at the time that it almost ousted other gods from Olympus. Every city was building temples dedicated to him, the largest one being the Asclepion (Asklepieion) of Pergamon.

Even in the 2nd century BCE, this temple was regarded as one of the biggest treasures of the ancient civilisation, but what has survived to this day was built in the early Common Era during the rule of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius. Almost 1 kilometre long and 18 metres wide, it appeared as a primaeval avenue, along which believers walked. On both sides of the road, there were covered galleries with columns that ended at the grand entrance – propylaea.

In the early Common Era, the Asclepion wasn’t just a place of worship, but also a healing institution of sorts, a prototype of a modern-day sanatorium. Wellness diets and long walks were prescribed to its patients. They would walk along the galleries, enjoying surrounding landscapes.

The unique ancient landmark was discovered by a local peasant who didn’t think much of it. Only when a German archaeologist Carl Humann saw a marble bas-relief did the excavations begin and the temple appeared in all its glory. Although most artefacts are kept in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, the ruins of galleries, columns and pedestals, parts of propylaea and the ancient temple itself are still in Bergama. Today, the archaeological site bears the name of the ancient temple complex Asclepion.