Art Bites 3 The market Gate of Miletus at Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Pergamon Museum is located in the Museum Island in Berlin. The building was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed over a period of twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon Museum houses monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Market Gate of Miletus.

Unfortunately, the Pergamon Altar section was closed for renovation, but I have visited it and it is one the most impressive things I have seen in my life. And I have to admit that the other two buildings are equally impressive. It is very rare to be able to see complete ancient buildings and in real life size.

The Market Gate of Miletus is a large marble monument, about 30 meters wide, 16 meters tall, and 5 meters deep. The gate was built in the 2nd century AD, most likely during the reign of Emperor Hadrian about 120 to 130 AD.

It replaced an existing Doric propylon and served as the northern entrance to the southern market, or agora, in Miletus, an ancient city in what is now Turkey.

The gate underwent restoration in the 3rd century following damage from an earthquake. In the 10th or 11th century another earthquake caused the gate to collapse.

In the early 1900s, it was excavated by a German archeological team, rebuilt, and placed on display in the museum in Berlin.

Only fragments had survived and reconstruction involved significant new material, a practice which generated criticism of the museum. I wouldn’t mind seeing ancient buildings restored and rebuild in their entirety, but archeologists strongly oppose this idea. They seem to prefer ruins.

This is probably the statue of Emperor Hadrian.

And the floor of a Roman porch.

In the photos, you can compare the size of humans with the size of the building and you have to admire the structural abilities of ancient Romans and their attention to detail in all those columns and statues.

That’s it for tonight. In an upcoming post we will go back in time and we will see the Isthar Gate from Babylon.

Be healthy , Smile and Steem !