AFYON TURKEY

Afyon

Karahisar Castle 

The Karahisar Castle which is located in a urban protected areawithin the city centre of Afyonkarahisar, is the place identified with the citysince it has an important place within the formation of the name ofAfyonkarahisar.

Thehistory of the castle built on a volcanic mountain dates back to 1,350 BC. TheKarahisar Castle was used for storing the state treasury during the Ottomantimes. The castle is 226 meters high with a gorgeous structure, and offers itsvisitors a unique landscape.

At thesummit of the castle, traces of the culture of the Phrygians who lived inAnatolia between 1,200 and 676 BC have been encountered, and there are manyworship places dedicated to the Mother Goddess Kybele and 4 large cisterns(water pits). During the period of Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat, the wallswere repaired, and a small mosque and a palace were built next to the castle.Also a must-see is the Maiden Tower, located somewhat higher next to thecastle.  

TheKarahisar Castle has become a wishing place for those who want to marry, havechildren, or other desires. Those who want to get married shout down from theMaiden Tower, saying "O my faith, my faith, O my golden throne, it is mytime to get married". Sometimes "It is time to have a child "wishes rise from the castle. There is a rumour among the locals that those whogo to the Karahisar Castle will stay in Afyonkarahisar for seven years. But youcan go to the Castle without taking this into consideration, with peace of mindand enjoy the spectacular view that will be presented to you at the top of thecastle.

War of Independence and Martyr’s Cemeteries/Monuments

Afyonkarahisaris a city that has played a very important role from the beginning to the endof the War of Independence. Afyonkarahisar is one of the symbolic cities of ourWar of Independence, where the Great Offensive started and was led and directedby Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of our war of independence.Our Republic was established as a result of the Great Offensive launched inthis city and the Pitched Battles afterwards. In Afyonkarahisar, thereare martyr’s cemeteries and monuments of MustafaKemal, the leader of our War of Independence and our heroic soldiers,in order to keep the memories of the Mehmetçik (heroic soldiers of the TurkishArmy), who were martyred in the Great Offensive.

Martyr’s Cemetery of The Great Offensive, Air ForceMartyr’s Cemetery, Anıtkaya Martyr’s Cemetery, Giresunlular Martyr’s Cemetery,Suvermez Martyr’s Cemetery, Yüzbaşı Agah Efendi Martyr’s Cemetery, YıldırımKemal Martyr’s Cemetery, Martyr’s Cemetery of the Şuhut War of Independence,Kocatepe Monument and Utku Monument are among the martyr’s cemeteries and monuments thatshould be visited.

Ulu Mosque

Ulu Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Afyonkarahisar, wasbuilt by Afyonkarahisar Sanjak-Bey Nusretiddün Hasan during the AnatolianSeljuk Period between 1272 and 1277. Ulu Mosque, also known as the“40 Direkli Mosque”, ie. the mosque with 40 columns, is one of the mostbeautiful examples of 13^th century Seljuk period woodworking, asit was built on 40 wooden columns and capitals in five rows. Currently themosque, which was repaired to preserve its old structure, is one of the uniquewoods and brick architecture examples from the Seljuk period.

UluMosque is among the Türkiye´s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. 

Phrygian Valleys

Duringthe downfall of the Hittites around 1,200 BC, a tribe called the Phrygiansstarted to migrate to Anatolia from the west. Their political superiority beganin 750 BC.

ThePhrygian Valleys are an enormous region unparalleled in the world, with rockfragments, historical and ancient ruins bearing the traces of the PhrygianCivilization. This area of natural beauty, stone monuments, rock settlements,open-air temples, fairy chimneys and 3,000 years of history is locatedamong Türkiye´s 10 most beautiful valleys.

The Phrygians establisheda long inherent culture in the crossroad of Afyonkarahisar-Eskisehir-Kütahyaprovinces. They created the most interesting and valuable works of cultic tombsand monuments in the world, like the temple facades of the MotherGoddess Kybele Cult cut in large rock blocks, as well as the embossedlion reliefs related to the Mother Goddess Kybele Cult.

Among themost important of these unique Phrygian rock-cut monuments arethe Aslantaş, Yılantaş, Maltaş, Kapıkaya I and Kapıkaya II monuments,located in the north of Afyonkarahisar, in the İhsaniye District, GöynüşValley, and the town, Döğer. The most important must-see monuments located inthe Phrygian Valley are the Aslankaya, Kapıkaya 1-2, and Maltaşopen-air temples, the Ayazini ruins, the Aslantaş and Yılantaşrock-cut tombs, the Yedikapılar and Memeç rock settlements, and the Bayramaliler,Avdalaz and Asar Castles.  Other valuable historicalplaces to see within the Phrygian Valley, are the Kırkinler, Seyildi fairychimneys, the Ağın Rock Settlement, the Ornaş Rock Settlement, the SelimiyeRock Tombs, and the Antique Marble Quarry. 

Ayazini Ruins

It isknown that the Ayazini Village was as settlement placesince Phrygian Period. The family and single-person rock-cut tombchambers from the Roman and Byzantine periods,the churches and rock-cut settlements from the Byzantine Period are carvedworks, as the land was suitable for such a settlement. There are masterpiecesof art such as the grave chamber with standing lion figures, the grave chamberwith columns, and a church carved into the rock with exterior and interiorarchitecture work. In addition, there is the Avdalaz Castle, where the rockmass was carved and turned into a settlement, with a cistern inside. Phrygiantourism festivals are held every year in the Ayazini tourism centre.  Thevillage, which is considered Phrygia’s heart, will soon become a major touristattraction titled, “Ayazini Village Tourist Reception Centre”.

Ayazini Rock Houses: The area around the entrance of theAyazini District and on the left side to the town was formed of Tuff. The firstsettlements were carved into the formation already in the Early ByzantinePeriod. Some houses have single rooms, some are carved side by side and one ontop of the other, adjacent to each other or separately. Some can be reached bysteps, while others are reached through tunnel-like passages in the inside.

Ayazini Rock Tombs: The rock-cut tombs, cut asfamily or single-person rock tombs belong to the Roman and Byzantine periods.Some of them are carved as double floors. The fact that the cemetery of AyaziniTown is in the same place, gives the important information that peoplepreferred the same areas for cemeteries. The entrances to the grave chambershave facades with engraved Medusa heads, and triangular shaped pediment, whichis followed by an ante-space, opening to the arched chamber with an archeddoor, which contain cist graves. Some of them are decorated with lion reliefs,and one is made of reliefs of the tomb owner; a husband and wife.

Ayazini Church: It is a church carved intothe rock in a steep tuff rock that you can see when entering the Ayazini Town.The characteristic of the church structure is that it has an apse and a domecarved into the rock surface as an exterior facade. It is a monastery structurebuilt in the 1,000s with the rock chambers adjacent to it.

Afyonkarahisar Archeology Museum 

The AfyonkarahisarArcheology Museum, which is a single-storey structure, exhibits thearchaeological artifacts found in Afyonkarahisar and its surroundings, whichrange from the Stone-Mine (Chalcolithic) period to the Byzantine period, inchronological order within 9 exhibition halls. The tools and equipmentoriginating from the Bronze, Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian, Roman andByzantine periods, which are showcased in these halls, give us veryimportant information about the life, belief, production and trade of the localpeople from 3,000 BC to the present day. These works make it one of the mostdistinguished museums of the region.

In theopen-air exhibition in the garden of the museum, Roman and Byzantine gravesteles, sarcophagi, cubes, sculptures, and tombstones belonging to the Seljuk,Principalities and Ottoman periods are displayed.

Victory Museum

The Victory Museum is located in a dominantarea in Afyonkarahisar, in the city centre opposite the VictoryMonument and the Afyonkarahisar Castle. It is a two-story building,built by Saitoğlu Mehmet Sait Efendi in 1915-1920, before the founding ofRepublic, and has neo-classical features in general. It is also significant, asit was the place where the “Battle of Dumlupınar”, or known as the “FieldBattle of the Commander-in-Chief” was planned and ordered.

Themuseum provides information about the “Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief”,and exhibits rooms in memory of Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha, WesternFront Commander İsmet İnönü Pasha, Chief of General Staff Fevzi Çakmak Pasha,and Western Front Operations Branch Director Tevfik Bıyıkoğlu.

Bolvadin Museum

As thenumber of works collected through the special interest and efforts by MuharremBayar during his time as principle of the Bolvadin Lisee increased more andmore, it became necessary to establish a museum. In 1987, through the effortsof the then-mayor, Etem Kelekçi, the "Municipal Cinema", which was aproperty of the municipality, was re-designed to serve as “the BolvadinMuseum”. With the restoration of Yanık Barracks in 2008, the Bolvadin MunicipalMuseum was moved to the Yanık Kışla building and continued to serve as the CityMuseum.  

Inaddition to the works originating from the Old Bronze Age, and Roman,Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican periods, which were collected fromthe center and the villages of Bolvadin; it has a total of 988 archaeologicaland ethnographical works, coins and archive documents. Especially, localfeatures, such as Bolvadin cream making, wickerwork and handicraft areexhibited. The Bolvadin-style living room, bridal room, conference hall andexhibition hall are on the ground floor; while the exhibition hall and alibrary are in the upper floor..  

Afyonkarahisar İsmail Kumartaşlı Egg and Arts Centre

Türkiye´sfirst Egg-Arts-Centre displays eggs from different species of animals, as wellas egg-art works. The "Afyonkarahisar İsmail Kumartaşlı Eggs and ArtsCentre" has its showrooms in the "Afyonkarahisar Hattat AhmetKarahisari Center for Culture and Arts", and is the world´s 6th andTürkiye´s first egg art museum.

TheCentre is designed as a museum and as a sectoral promotion centre. Within theframe of eggs and egg art, the centre displays eggs from 240 different racesproduced by 37 producers in 22 cities of Türkiye. You will also find around 100artistically processed real egg samples of many wild animals, including sharks,loggerhead sea turtle, snakes, and locusts. Additionally records and documentsobtained from the Turkish Poultry and Egg Production Sector.   

All theeggs exhibited here were taken from dead embryos, and particular sensitivitywas shown not to adversely affect the survival of the species. The Centre is afascination experience not to be missed when visiting Afyonkarahisar.

Sultan Divani Mevlevihanesi

Theestablishment of the Sultan Divani Mevlevihanesi, one of the mostimportant Mevlevi lodges in Anatolia after the Konya Mevlevihanesi, dates backto the 13^th century. The mentioned Mevlevihane was built bySultan Divani, one of the grandchildren in 7^th generation ofthe famous Mevlana, in the 16^th century, and became a veryimportant centre among the Mevlevi orders.

TheSultan Divani Mevlevi Lodge has been the centre of many activities related toMawlawiyya, since its foundation. The ordeal cells, where the dervishes used toseclude themselves for 1001 days, as well as their tombs are among the mostimportant sections that visitors should see.

Anotheraspect that makes Sultan Divani Mevlevihane important is that it is the onlyMevlevihane where the Ashura tradition with 40 recitations of the wholeQur’an (hatim) was held; and this tradition continues until today. Everyyear, on the 10^th day of the month of Muharram, Ashura mourningceremonies were performed, 40 cauldrons of Ashura desserts accompanied by theQur’an recitations are prepared. The ritual is completed by distributing theAshura dessert to the people.

Amorium Ancient City

Amorium, which means fortress, is anarea and an ancient city that has been inhabited continuously since the 2000sduring the Phrygian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.The ancient city, 70 km north-east from Afyonkarahisar and 13 km east from theEmirdağ District is evaluated under two headings as upper and lower city.

Duringthe Classical and Hellenistic period Amorium played an important role in thehistory of Central Anatolia. The fact that Amorium was among the first citiesto be allowed to issue its own money by the Roman Senate shows that it occupiedan important position in Eastern Phrygia in the early 1^st centuryBC. Amorium is estimated to be an important commercial city that attracts manypeople from the surrounding towns with its regular festivals and fairs in LateAntiquity.     

It isknown that many important personalities in history were remembered inconnection with the Amorium Ancient City. The pioneers of genres offables in the literature, like Aesop according to many ancient records, areknown to have lived in Amorium. The great Companion Salman thePersian, who is of great importance in the history ofIslam, also passed through Amorites in his religious searches for the truth.Salman the Persian was educated in the church for 7 years next to Amorioum andthen moved to Medina, to the Prophet of Islam Mohammed (pbuh). After embracingIslam, he even earned the title "He is a member of my family" by theProphet Muhammad for his valuable services to Islam and humanity. It is knownthat Battal Gazi, who contributed greatly to the Islamization ofAnatolia, was martyred in a war near Afyonkarahisar. It is estimated that thebattle he was martyred was the Amorium Siege. Battal Gazi´s final resting placeis the Seyitgazi Tomb, which is about 100 km away from Amorium.