City of the Phrygians

Unravel the mysteries of the ancient city Gordion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Gordion 2The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion is best known as the political and cultural center of the Phrygians, a people who ruled much of central Anatolia in the early first millennium BCE.

The Phrygians were an Indo-European people who migrated to Anatolia from the Balkans around the 12th century BCE. They established a kingdom that at its height controlled much of central Anatolia, with its capital at Gordion. 

Gordion 3The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion is the most important archaeological site to understand the Phrygian civilization. It has monumental Phrygian architecture, a well-preserved layer of destruction from around 800 BCE, and a series of elaborate tombs belonging to Phrygian royalty and other elites.

Gordion 4The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion is as important as Athens, Rome, Pompeii, the Hittite capital of Hattusha, and Babylon for helping us to understand the material achievements of an ancient civilization.

Gordion 5The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion is best known as the main city of the Phrygians and their culture. It was also the home of the most famous Phrygian king, Midas, who ruled in the late 8th century BCE.

Gordion 6The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Phrygian culture remained strong at Gordion until the 4th century BCE, despite its humble beginnings as a village in the 11th century. The city grew into two great citadels, the Early and Middle Phrygian, which succeeded each other after a major fire around 800 BCE.

Gordion 8The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion was the capital of an independent Phrygian state, at least until the reign of Midas. After that, it was ruled by other powers.

Gordion 7The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion was ruled by the West Anatolian kingdom of Lydia in the first half of the 6th century BCE, and then by the Persian Empire for the next two centuries.

Gordion 9The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

In 334 BCE, Alexander the Great of Macedon launched his world-changing campaign against the Persian Empire. His first stop was Gordion, where he may have spent the winter.

Gordion 10The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Alexander likely saw the last remains of the Late Phrygian citadel when he arrived in Gordion. His stay there also led to one of the most famous events in ancient history: the cutting of the Gordian Knot.

Gordion 11The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Gordion was inscribed on  UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in September 2023 because of its importance to the history of civilization.

Gordion 12The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

One of the citadel’s megarons included the earliest decorated stone mosaic that has ever been discovered.

Gordion 13The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The tomb chamber in the Midas Mound is the oldest standing wooden building in the world (740 B.C.).

Gordion 14The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye


The entrance to the archaeological site of Gordion features the best-preserved Iron Age citadel gate in Anatolia. The site was inhabited for over 4,000 years, from the Early Bronze Age to the Medieval period.

Click this link to continue reading other ancient civilizations.

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The Excavation Directorate of Gordion

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