This acropolis is worth a visit to Pergamon in its own right. Once you have passed the royal gate, you arrive at one of the world's major Hellenistic sites, and one which was also prominent during the Roman era. From this rocky spur teeming with history the view is already impressive. Although these once-grandiose buildings (temples, libraries, porticoes, altars and an amphitheatre) are for the most part in ruins today and devoid of statues, they are still able to stir the imagination.