Pessinus

The ruins of Pessinus lie about 11km/7mi south of Sivrihisar, near the village of Ballihisar. Founded by the Phrygians, Pessinus was later the center of a powerful theocratic state. It was the capital of the Galatian Tolistoagi (277-244 B.C.) and boasted an important shrine dedicated to the cult of Asia Minor's principal goddess Cybele and her young lover Attis.

According to the myth, Attis castrated himself, and eunuch priests played a major role in the cult. After 230 B.C. the Celtic Galatians took over the sanctuary. Right up until the banning of such cults in the reign of Theodosius I (379-395), Roman generals would often patronize this well-known shrine. In 183 B.C. Pessinus became a possession of Pergamum and under the Attalids was endowed with splendid temples and colonnades. After 700 the town fell more and more into ruin. There is now little to see, though the acropolis, some remains of a theater (to the east beside an ancient drainage ditch), an odeion, a temple of Cybele and a necropolis are still recognizable. Fragments of a processional way lie scattered in the river bed.