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This Turkish resort on the North Aegean coast has long been a popular holiday destination, due primarily to the charms of the dark-sand beach that runs past the main square. But for visitors with archaeological interests, Dikili is the ideal gateway to the magnificent restored ruins in nearby Bergama. Bergama was known by the ancient Greeks as Pergamon, and it served as the capital of a kingdom that conquered much of the surrounding area in the third and second centuries B.C.

Bergama today still holds many treasures of the classical era, from the Asclepion (a complex named for Asclepius, Greek god of medicine) to the Roman-era Temple of Trajan with its magnificent columns. The remains of the second-largest library of the Greek era are also here, as is a grand 10,000-seat theater of the Hellenistic age, built into the hillside of the local acropolis.

Language: Turkish     Currency: Turkish lira (TRY)