Gordion

Gordion

Γόρδιον Gordiyon
The Early Phrygian East Citadel Gate at Gordion, with the Terrace Building Complex and Megaron buildings behind it
Shown within Turkey
Location	Yassıhüyük, Ankara Province, Turkey
Region	Phrygia
Coordinates	39°39′01″N 31°58′42″E / 39.650356°N 31.978243°E / 39.650356; 31.978243
Type	Settlement
Site notes
Website	www.penn.museum/sites/gordion
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Gordion
Type	Cultural
Criteria	(iii)
Designated	2023 (45th session)
Reference no.	1669
UNESCO Region	Europe and North America

Gordion (Phrygian: Gordum;^[1] Greek: Γόρδιον, romanized: Górdion; Turkish: Gordion or Gordiyon; Latin: Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about 70–80 km (43–50 mi) southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the immediate vicinity of Polatlı district. Gordion's location at the confluence of the Sakarya and Porsuk rivers gave it a strategic location with control over fertile land. Gordion lies where the ancient road between Lydia and Assyria/Babylonia crossed the Sangarius river. Occupation at the site is attested from the Early Bronze Age (c. 2300 BCE) continuously until the 4th century CE and again in the 13th and 14th centuries CE.^[2] The Citadel Mound at Gordion is approximately 13.5 hectares in size, and at its height habitation extended beyond this in an area approximately 100 hectares in size. Gordion is the type site of Phrygian civilization, and its well-preserved destruction level of c. 800 BCE is a chronological linchpin in the region. The long tradition of tumuli at the site is an important record of elite monumentality and burial practice during the Iron Age.

In 2023, Gordion was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[3]