Afyon, the provincial capital, lies on the western edge of a large basin in the northern foothills of the Sandikli Dag. It is dominated by its citadel, built on top of a steep-sided, 226m/740ft-high outcrop of black trachyte. Opium poppies grow in the countryside around the town, making the area one of the world's largest producers - hence also the town's name (meaning "black opium castle"). Cultivation and processing for the pharmaceutical industry are both strictly controlled; penalties for possessing drugs are severe and prove an effective deterrent.
Formerly a halt on the caravan route between the Aegean and Konya, Afyon remains an important road and rail junction to which cereals and wool are brought for onward shipment. Merchandise produced in the town and surrounding countryside includes carpets and intarsia-work. The springs in the vicinity of Afyon are justly famous, the well-known "Kizilay" mineral water coming from this area for example.
History
Some historians identify Afyon's citadel hill with Hapanuva (mid second century B.C.), a fortress from which the Hittites held sway over the native Arzawa. Already settled in the Phrygian period when it was called Akroinos, the town was later absorbed into the Pergamene Empire, afterwards becoming a Roman possession and later, in 395, Byzantine. It achieved fame as a result of the battle (in 740) in which Leo III successfully repulsed an Arab incursion. The Seljuks under Alaeddin Keykubad I (1219-36) enlarged both the town and the fort, at that time known as Karahisar-Sahip after the Seljuk vizier Sahip Ata. In the 17th century when the Ottoman Empire began to collapse, the town was the center of a pasha revolt.
Although probably standing on older (Cyclopean) foundations of the Hittite period, the fortress ruins, which now crown the isolated trachyte outcrop high above the center of Afyon, date back to Alaeddin Keykubad I (1219-36). Vestiges of a tower (Kiz Kulesi) and remnants of substantial walls, cisterns, a palace and a small mosque (1235) survive. The hilltop also commands a fine view over the town.
In addition to Islamic craftwork, the Archeological Museum in Afyon archeological finds from the Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic and Byzantine periods are on display in eight rooms of the Tas Medrese in Afyon.
Tips: (Imaret Kulliyesi/Gedik Ahmet Pasa Kulliyesi; open: Tue.-Sun. 9am-noon, 1.30-5pm).
The Imaret Külliyesi in Afyon, with a colored marble portal, is typical of a 15th century Ottoman stone building. Constructed in 1472 (renovated 1477), with a medrese and baths, it is also known as the Gedik Ahmet Pasa Külliyesi after its founder Mehmet, one of the conquering viziers. The medrese, asymmetric in plan, with an open schoolroom for summer use and an enclosed one for winter, now houses the ethnographic museum.
The Mevlevihane Camii in Afyon (1710; in Kuyulu Cadde) is a shrine of major significance to the Dervish Order, being second only in importance to the Mevlana türbe and monastery at Konya. Many monks of the Order are buried here. Various items belonging to the Order can be seen on display in a small museum.
The old part of the town of Afyon with its narrow alleyways, interesting old houses and market, which is well worth visiting, clusters around the foot of the citadel hill.
Standing in the main street (Cumhuriyet Meydani) in the town center of Afyon near the park, the Zafer Aniti Victory Memorial commemorates the Battle of Dumlupinar (58km/36mi northwest) where, on September 27th 1922, Kemal Pasa (Atatürk) vanquished the opposing Greek forces.
Situated 40km/25mi north of Afyon to the east of Ihsaniye/Döger, this Phrygian site (not easy to find; guide recommended) was dedicated to the cult of Cybele. There is an altar with a niche and a shrine cut into a huge tuff monolith embellished with a relief. The figure of Cybele is flanked by two large lions (hence the name, meaning "lion-skin") with two sphinxes on the rock gable above.
The "Lion Stone", among a cluster of rocks known as "Asarlik" about 3km/2mi west of Ayazini, is another Phrygian rock shrine. It too features a pair of lions in relief.
Also known as Kybele Kapikaya or Büyük Kapikaya, this Phrygian monument on open ground northeast of Liyen (40km/25mi north of Afyon) is again of interest - a rock niche with a surround in geometric design (Maeander relief) and a carved figure of Cybele.
This 153sq.km/59sq.mile salt lake (altitude: 836m/2,742ft) south of Dazkiri dries out almost completely in summer, a white salt crust forming over it. Known in antiquity as Anaua Limnae, the historian Herodotus records that Xerxes and Alexander the Great both marched their armies along its shores.
Anitkaya (formerly Egret), a village 30km/19mi northwest of Afyon, lays claim not just to one but two Seljuk caravanserais. The Egret Hani is a triple-aisled hall-like building dating from the 13th century, with a columned portal and interior arcades. The Yenice Köy Hani, only 5km/3mi northwest, is thought to be of Early Seljuk origin.
Two large country areas, scene in 1922 of decisive engagements during the Turkish War of Liberation against the Greeks, are now National Parks (signposted). One lies immediately south of Afyon, the other north of Dumlupinar (53km/33mi to the west).
Within the park is an Open Air Museum and Memorial, as well as cafes with music and entertainment.
As well as two Ottoman caravanserais, Selcuklu Han and Kursunlu Han, Bolvadin, 60km/40mi east of Afyon, has a bridge built by Sinan (Kirkgöz Köprüsü), the Alaca Fountain, the Esireddin Ebheri Türbe, the Rüstempasa Camii which are well worth a visit, and the Rüstempasa Hani (Ottoman caravanserai). Formerly a caravan halt, Bolvadin (Byzantine "Polybotum") was fortified against the Seljuks in the 12th century though nothing from that period now survives.
Not far from Dinar rise several sources of the Büyük Menderes (Great Maeander River), tributaries of which include the Orgas (flowing north), Obrimas (flowing south) and Marsyas. Between the Samsun-Ak Dag and the Kir-Kizkuyu Dag, two mountain ranges east of the town, stretches an extensive polje (depression), the Dombay Ovasi, harboring the very swampy Çapali Gölü (ancient: Aulokrene reed lake). The basin traps water from a number of surface streams and large karst springs (Kavak Pinari, Pinarbasi), which then disappears into a karst swallow hole (ponor) at the foot of Akdag on the western edge of the swamp before emerging again on the far (west) side of the uplands in the guise of sources of the Maeander. The river has three principal sources at the western foot of the Samsun-Ak Daglari: the southern source near Bülüç Alani, the main source on the eastern outskirts of Dinar, and the northern source "Kapi Pinari" 20km/12mi northwest near Gökgöl which are all karst springs emitting substantial volumes of water, most of it drawn from the mountainous hinterland to the east via the karst drainage systems.
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Ulu Cami
