Turkey - Mountainous Phrygia

Phrygians are one of the Trak tribes migrated from Thrace to Anatolia. According to the general consent, Trak migration started from 1200 B.C. and lasted almost 400 years centered mostly in the period following the decadence of Hittite Empire. Having invaded Troia and surrounding, Phrygians spread over the shores of Askania Lake (Iznik Lake) and Sangarius River Valley (Sakarya River Valley) and continued to disperse into Anatolia. They established a powerful state in the Central Anatolia between the 9th and 6th c. B.C. Phrygia was divided into two regions in the ancient times. “Phrygia Megale” covering the area between Red River in the east, Lidia region in the west, Lakonya in the south and Köroğlu Mountains in the north; “Phrygia Micra” or “Phrygia Epiktetus” the region covering the provinces of Eskişehir, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya today. The latter is also called Mountainous Phrygia as it is an upland mountainous area which is constituted by deep valleys and volcanic tuff rocks. Phrygians settled their sacred places and cult centers in such highland areas as they believed Goddess Kybele appears in bare cliffs, valleys and mountains near to freshwater bodies. As a result, it is the Mountainous Phrygia region, which encompasses nearly 52 ha. area, where the Phrygians had their most powerful political and cultural dominance throughout their history.