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.