GORDION

The most important Phrygian sites in Anatolia are to be found in the provinces of Ankara, Eskisehir and Afyon. Yassihoyuk (Gordion) was the capital of Phrygia and the place were Alexander the Great cut the Gordion Knot to gain the key to Asia. The tumulus of King Midas, who turned whatever he touched to gold, can be visited here. Nearby, the remains of the ancient city Gordion, still under excavation, and a small museum are worth a quick tour. Off the same Ankara-Eskisehir road is Ballihisar (Pessinus), an important Phrygian religious cult center. The most important remains are those of a temple to Cybele, the mother goddess whose worship was at the heart of the Phrygian culture. The small open air museum has some interesting sculptures and tombstones. At Midas Sehri two enormous facades cut into a rocky promontory once held cult statues for the worship of Cybele in their niches. Throughout the area rock tombs – cave like openings – pierce the sand colored stone. A recently discovered underground passage leads from the site to the valley below. Aslantas and Aslankaya were both centers of cult worship in Phrygian times.