Bergama's Red Hall (Kızıl Avlu) or Red Basilica (map) was built for worship of the Egyptian gods Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates at a time in the 2nd century AD when Egyptian religion was reaching into the Roman Empire.
Faced with marble and surrounded by a colonnade, the huge building looked very different in Roman times. A stream ran beneath it in stone channels, its waters used for ritual bathing and ablutions.
The massive tower, now a mosque.
The Byzantines preserved the sacred space, building the Church of St John the Apostle within the mammoth ancient walls.
The building is sacred still today, containing the Kurtuluş Camii (mosque) in one of its towers.
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