Citadel Mound

Central Anatolia


Just beyond Yassıhöyük village – 2km west of the museum – is the weatherbeaten 10th-century-BC fortified citadel area. Excavations here have yielded a wealth of data on Gordion's many civilisations. The site is a mass of jumbled, half-buried walls; thankfully, excellent English information panels dotted along the trail around the ruins help you decipher the site.

Although the ruins themselves are scant, the bucolic views of green fields interrupted by round tumuli (burial mounds) make it well worth a visit.

The lofty main gate on the western side of the acropolis was approached by a 6m-wide ramp. Within the fortified enclosure were four megara (square halls) from which the king and his priests and ministers ruled the empire.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Central Anatolia attractions

1. Gordion Museum

0.87 MILES

In the museum opposite the Midas Tumulus, Macedonian and Babylonian coins show Gordion's position at the centre of Anatolian trade, communications and…

2. Midas Tumulus

0.92 MILES

In 1957 Austrian archaeologist Alfred Koerte discovered Gordion, and with it the intact tomb of a Phrygian king, probably buried some time between 740 and…