Çavdarhisar

This high Anatolian plateau is cold and windswept in winter, but it has plenty of water and is suitable for grain and sheep. It's been inhabited at least since the 3rd millennium BC, the Bronze Age, and by Phrygian times a settlement of Aizanoi had emerged, probably named for Azan their legendary founder-figure and grandson of Zeus. Phrygia passed into the hands of Bithynia then Pergamon, then in 133 BC the Roman Empire took over the region. The great embellishment of Aizanoi with its Temple of Zeus and secular buildings got under way some 200 years later.

Temple and settlement fell into decline from about the 6th century AD. In the 13th, the Çavdar tribe of Tatars arrived and fortified the site (hence Çavdar-hisar), but didn't raid its masonry, and the temple remained sturdy for centuries while buildings all over Anatolia were succumbing to earthquakes. And there it hid in plain sight, until early 19th century Europeans traversed the plateau and noticed it. Further study revealed that this was the Aizanoi of ancient writings, and excavations began in 1926. These continue, with major findings right up to the present, the latest being a large cache of Roman coins found in 2021.

Çavdarhisar village is a poor sort of place apart from its antiquities. It was hurt by the earthquake of 1970, but even more by the hollowing out of the Anatolian countryside as young people move away to the cities, and buildings, infrastructure and services crumble. Like so many other tourist stop-offs from Baalbek to Kerry, it has the problem that many people visit briefly, but few ever spend any time or money here, so there's no benefit to the local economy.

The simplest way of getting to Çavdarhisar is via Kütahya, see its "Get in" for long-distance connections. Kütahya has more traveller amenities, and many archaeological findings from Aizanoi are now in its museum.

Check the weather forecast before setting out - this high altitude village can have miserable weather any time, and in winter the roads may be blocked by snow for days at a time.

Walk. The village was damaged in the earthquake of 1970 and it was rebuilt to a grid pattern along a loop of highway, with D240 bypassing to the east. Walk 1 km northwest to find the huddle of old village, the river, and the ruins of Aizanoi. This is the road to Emet - the occasional dolmuş from Kütahya is heading there and can drop you at the temple entrance, but it's not worth seeking a separate ride.

Little yellow arrows guide you round the site, with information in Turkish, English, and German. The route suggested below follows the same course.

The ruins of Aizanoi are 1 km northwest of village centre. They're generally free to stroll around any time, but for a couple of places you need someone to let you in. They might be around any day 08:30-17:00. Allow 90 min to 2 hours to explore and wear stout shoes, especially if it's been raining. There are squat-type toilets by the entrance to the temple.

🌍 Roman baths are reached first, by the alley right off Cumhuriyet Cd (the road to Emet) just before Penkalas Bridge. At the fork in the alley bear left to enter an area of foundation stones and some marble pieces. These baths might have been built from 250 AD, a century after those near the stadium. The best feature is the mosaic floor in the low modern building: you may have to look around for an attendant to open it up, otherwise peek through the railings. The mosaics depict a satyr and a female maenad, neither of whom could safely be left alone for ten seconds with a jug of liquor. That's probably not the reason a Byzantine bishop later plonked his residence and august backside here.

Penkalas Bridge is reached by returning to the paved road. This five-arched bridge was built around 157 AD yet still carries traffic. It's the downriver bridge of the two surviving (of the original four) - the upriver bridge is identical and is on the return route. The stream is in a poor state, but it's intended to restore the Roman wharves, and add a weir to keep it in water. Cross the agora - marketplace - towards the temple.

🌍 Temple of Zeus dominates the site on its hillock. Construction began under the Emperor Domitian, circa 90 AD. In Seljuk times (12th century) the area was fortified into a citadel, hence the hisar in Çavdarhisar, but that soon fell down. The temple was damaged in the earthquake of 1970 but has been restored.

The sacred cell of Cybele is a barrel vault beneath the temple, access down the steps behind the iron grate. Her rites here are not known, as this goddess had several guises. Cybele started out as a plump earth-mother in the Phrygian era, which had its zenith 8th to 7th century BC. Her cult expanded all over Anatolia and the Roman world, when she was usually a matronly civic protector, and as such was re-imported to Greece and Anatolia. But she could also be a hippy-dippy wild child, heading to the next rock festival in a chariot drawn by lions, and her cell here would make for a good nightspot. There's an obvious duality of hyper-masculine Zeus worshipped above ground and Cybele in this dark place below, and it pre-figures the Christian pattern of temple and undercroft.

The necropolis was north side of the temple: take in the line of decorated Byzantine marble gravestones bordering the field. Head north re-crossing the public road Cumhuriyet Cd, then turn right onto the lane towards the stadium and amphitheatre. The modern cemetery has interesting gravestones - this is another 100 m up the Emet road.

Hammam is the local name given to the set of baths on the left as you start up the lane, larger and earlier in date than the other set. They were probably built at the same time as the stadium, say from 160 AD, and include a palaestra, a wrestling school.

The 🌍 Stadium and amphitheatre, unusually, were built adjoining, with the stage podium between. They were built from 160 AD and inscriptions record funding by a fellow called Marcus Apuleius Eurykles. He may have been slow with the money, as construction took most of a century. A wall just right of the entrance lists the stadium's sporting champions with their laurels - their trophies. Hence a champion who is no longer hungry for more contests is said to "rest on his laurels".

Return towards the village by the lane and paved road, then turn right past the temple onto Abdullah Özcan Cd and over the other Roman bridge. This is the same age and design as the first bridge, but more disfigured by modern railings.

Agora the market had the river running through it, a smart idea in a place milling with livestock, but its visible remains are south bank where paradoxically they've been preserved by being built over. (The collapse of the minaret in 1970 led to their discovery.) The round building by Taksim Cd was the macellum, the indoor foodstuffs market, and here was posted the "Edict on Maximum Prices" issued in 301 AD by Emperor Diocletian. This was an attempt to curb inflation, as the coinage became debased by low-value metal, so merchants jacked up their prices, so officials debased the coinage further. "A horse equals three slaves, and a slave equals two donkeys, which themselves are equal to 30,000 denarii" and so on. The Edict was erected at major markets across the empire but only fragments survive, and it's not known how strictly it was adhered to. Walk another 100 m east to admire the Ionic columns of the market area, and when he sees you turn and walk away, the fellow with the donkeys will probably come down to 25,000 denarii.

A colonnaded street or stoa walkway once led from the marketplace to the underground sanctuary of Meter Steunene, another earth goddess. Nothing to see now.

Follow Taksim Cd south to return to the main road through the village. A shortcut takes the first left back onto Cumhuriyet Cd, then right onto the road. A few marble stones adorn the town council (belediye) building where you await transport back to Kütahya.

• Stores: Can Büfe by the crossroads has snacks and drinks. Bim and A101 a block east behind town hall both have a better selection.
• Cash: Ziraat Bankası has an ATM. It's 200 m southwest of the main crossroads.
• Fuel: there's a filling station in the village, and another northeast just as the loop rejoins D240.

• There's a little cluster of eateries northeast of the crossroads. These are aimed at local workers who can't get home for lunch, so expect trad home food such as rice and beans (pilav-kurufasulye) or kavurma (chunks of braised red meat).
• Ervan Kebap, if you've time for a bigger meal, is a couple of blocks east on 5th Sk, open daily 07:00-00:00.

You are only an hour away from a beer back in Kütahya.

• 🌍 Çavdarhisar Evi, Taksim Cd 40, ☏ +90 274 351 2351. Comfy clean friendly pansiyon right by Aizanoi. (updated Aug 2022)
• Anemon Hotel has closed. GDZ Otel in 2022 does not respond to enquiries or other stimuli and would meet most jurisdictions' definitions of "brain dead".

As of Aug 2022, Çavdarhisar and the approach highway D240 have 4G from all Turkish carriers, but the signal is patchy from Türk Telekom. 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

• Kütahya is the hub for most onward routes. It has several old mosques and is famous for its decorated tiles. Many archaeological finds from Aizanoi are in the museum there.
• Gediz southwest along D240 was destroyed in the earthquake of 1970 and is modern, but some old architecture survives 8 km before the main town, in Eskigediz.
• Simav west along D240 is a geothermal area with steaming baths among forested mountains. The highway continues into Balıkesir Province.
• Uşak is a city astride the busy Ankara - Izmir highway. Its Museum of Archaeology holds the Karun (or Lydian) treasure, repatriated from New York MOMA after a legal battle.