Gordion - Tumuli (Tomb of Gordios)

Beyond the village of Yassihüyük a number of burial mounds flank both sides of the Polatli road. The so-called Tomb of Gordios, 53m/174ft high with a diameter of 250m/820ft, facing the site's small museum, is the second largest of its kind in Anatolia (after the 69m/226ft high Tumulus of Alyattes at Bin Tepe near Sardes). Having been erected only at the beginning of the seventh century B.C. at the earliest, the man-made burial mound can hardly be Gordius's tomb, but more probably that of the legendary Midas. On the southwest side a 70m/230ft-long passage leads down to the burial chamber, 39m/130ft below the top of the mound. The 5 x 6m/16 x 20ft chamber, concealed beneath a mass of limestone blocks, was originally without an entrance. The wooden beam walls and gable roof have survived. The chamber was protected from robbers by a 3m/10ft-thick layer of rubble and against damp by 40m/131ft of clay overlaid with gravel.