Gordion is situated at Yassıhöyük, some 100km south-west of Ankara, near the town of Polatlı.
This place, east of the Sakarya River, was occupied from about 2500 BC. In the 9th century BC, as Gordion, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Phrygia. A large number of burial mounds occupy the landscape, including the 50m high ‘Great Tumulus’ seen here. The mound, excavated in 1957, dates from the 8th century BC and is thought to have contained the remains of Gordios, father of King Midas.
View from the west.
This place, east of the Sakarya River, was occupied from about 2500 BC. In the 9th century BC, as Gordion, it became the capital of the Kingdom of Phrygia. A large number of burial mounds occupy the landscape, including the 50m high ‘Great Tumulus’ seen here. The mound, excavated in 1957, dates from the 8th century BC and is thought to have contained the remains of Gordios, father of King Midas.
View from the west.