The story of Aizanoi

Beneath the Temple of Zeus at Aizanoi lies a hidden vaulted chamber, something rare in Roman Anatolia. This ancient city, 58 kilometres from Kütahya in Çavdarhisar, spreads along both banks of the Penkalas (Kocaçay) River and became an important political and economic centre in Roman times. Its name may come from Azan, a son of Arkas, the legendary ancestor of the Phrygians.

Work on the temple began in AD 92 under Domitian, on a mound whose earliest settlement goes back to 3000 BC. Count the columns: eight on the short sides, fifteen on the long ones. Some interpretations suggest the temple was dedicated to both Zeus and the mother goddess Cybele.

The city's bishop attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In the Seljuk era the Çavdar Tatars turned the temple hill into a fortress, giving today's Çavdarhisar its name. European travellers noticed the ruins in 1824, and Aizanoi joined UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List in 2012.