The Monumental Greek Beauty of Berlin’s Pergamon Museum
Source: GreekReporter.com
The Pergamon Museum is a remarkable institution at the heart of the German capital, Berlin, celebrating ancient Greek culture and architecture in a remarkably monumental way among other things.
The Pergamon Museum hosts a truly unique and beautiful collection of Greek antiquities, offering locals and tourists alike a glimpse of ancient Greece in the epitenter of modern-day Germany.
This renowned institution offers its lucky visitors a captivating journey through the cultural, artistic, and architectural achievements of ancient Greece, reminding them of the important contributions of this great civilization.
Catherine Tsounis wrote a piece for the Greek Reporter nearly twelve years ago, explaining how a group of people reacted when they visited the Pergamon Museum for the first time.
“Absolutely everyone on my Kontiki Tour was heading to one place in Berlin: the Pergamon Museum which is the best Ancient Greek Museum in Europe,” she had quoted Despina Siolas, who visited the museum, as saying.
The magnificent Pergamon Altar
The crown jewel of the Greek collection of the Pergamon Museum is the breathtaking Pergamon Altar.
This massive structure, dating back to the 2nd century BC, is inspired by the ancient Greek city of Pergamon, which lies in modern-day Turkey.
The most striking feature of the altar is its 113-meter-long (371 feet) sculptural frieze, which brings back to life the Greek mythological clash between the Olympian gods and the Giants.
Visitors can marvel at the exceptionally beautiful and intricate carvings with their dramatic scenes, gaining a unique insight into the rich world of Greek mythology and the artistic skills of its original creators in ancient Greece.
Tsounis had noted in her piece that:
“The Pergamon altar has Ionic columns with a 120-meter frieze. It is the longest continuous band of relief preserved from the ancient world after the Parthenon Marbles. More than 100 over-life-sized figures are shown in dramatic scenes of combat.”
The Pergamon Museum doesn’t stop surprising with its impressive collections at the altar, however. It also houses several reconstructed Greek architectural wonders, bringing back to prominence monuments that time has worn out.
One such example is the Market Gate of Miletus, a fascinating and magnificent piece of Roman architecture, which had been heavily influenced by Greek design.
These full-scale reconstructions are what makes this museum unique, transporting visitors back in time and allowing them to experience the unbelievable grandeur of ancient Greek cities in a way very few other museums can match.
A diverse Greek antiquities collection
Beyond its monumental structures, the museum is home to an extensive array of Greek artifacts that show the craftsmanship and beauty of ancient Greece’s everyday life.
Visitors to the Pergamon Museum can explore a wide range of items from delicate sculptures and pottery to beautiful bronzes and jewelry.
These pieces come from various periods of Greek history, starting with the archaic and going all the way to the Hellenistic and Roman eras, offering a comprehensive look at the evolution of Greek art over time.
The sheer breadth and quality of this collection make it one of the most significant of Greek antiquities outside Greece itself. The Pergamon Museum shows how ancient Greece shaped the world with its profound impact on Western culture.
By bringing together massive architectural pieces in real-life sizes and having exhibits from detailed sculptures to simple, everyday objects, the museum provides a holistic experience to those who want to know more about Greek culture, architecture, and history.
The original article: belongs to GreekReporter.com .
