Must-see attractions in Western Anatolia

  • Hierapolis ancient city Pamukkale Turkey, young woman with hat watching sunset by the ruins Unesco ; Shutterstock ID 1167278944; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    Hierapolis

    Pamukkale

    This ancient spa city's location atop Pamukkale's tourist-magnet travertines is quite spectacular. Founded as a curative centre around 190 BC by Eumenes…

  • Travertines

    Pamukkale

    The World Heritage–listed saucer-shaped travertines (or terraces) of Pamukkale wind sideways down the powder-white mountain above the village, providing a…

  • Green mosque (yesil camii) in Bursa, Turkey.

    Yeşil Cami

    Bursa

    Built for Mehmet I, the Yeşil (Green) Cami was completed in 1422 and represents a departure from the previous, Persian-influenced Seljuk architecture that…

  • Muradiye Complex

    Bursa

    This Ottoman-era complex incorporates a stately medrese (seminary; 1426) and the equally handsome Sultan Murat II (Muradiye) Cami, also built in 1426, but…

  • Afrodisias

    Western Anatolia

    Added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 2017, this remote site in the Anatolian hinterland trumps many of Turkey's ancient sites for its sheer scale and…

  • Roman Theatre

    Pamukkale

    The Roman theatre is the highlight of Hierapolis, dramatically sitting uphill from the site and overlooking the ruins and mountains beyond. The stage area…

  • Ancient Aizanoi

    Western Anatolia

    Rural Çavdarhisar (60km southwest of Kütahya) is home to one of Anatolia's best-preserved Roman remains. The Temple of Zeus, built under Hadrian (r AD 117…

  • Ulu Camii in Bursa, Turkey.

    Ulu Cami

    Bursa

    This enormous Seljuk-style mosque (1399) is central Bursa's dominating feature. Sultan Beyazıt I built it in a monumental compromise – having pledged to…

  • Odunpazarı

    Eskişehir

    Eskişehir's protected heritage district is crammed with cobblestone alleyways of timber-framed konaks (mansions) with overhanging upper stories. Many of…

  • Odunpazarı Modern Museum

    Eskişehir

    This ambitious art museum, with its highly contemporary wood-slat facade riffing on Eskişehir's history as a major wood-market town, opened in 2019…

  • Laodicea

    Western Anatolia

    Laodicea was once a commercial city straddling two major trade routes, famed for its black wool, banking and medicines. Cicero lived here for a time and…

  • Ulu Cami

    Western Anatolia

    Among the most important surviving Seljuk mosques in Turkey, the Ulu Cami (1273) is supported by 40 fat, soaring wooden columns with intricate stalactite…

  • Uludağ Teleferik

    Western Anatolia

    The 8.2km Uludağ Teleferik is the world's longest cable car. The cable car travels from its lowest station Teferrüç (236m) to Oteller (1810m), where…

  • Muradiye Tombs

    Bursa

    Muradiye cemetery's 12 tombs (dating from the 15th and 16th centuries) include the sparsely decorated tomb of Sultan Murat II (r 1421–51) along with the…

  • Midas Şehri

    Western Anatolia

    The major site of the Phrygian Valley is in the village of Yazılıkaya, 32km south of Seyitgazi. Archaeologists call this important section Midas Şehri …

  • Martyrium of St Philip the Apostle

    Pamukkale

    The extraordinary octagonal Martyrium of St Philip the Apostle at Hierapolis is built on the site where it's believed that St Philip was martyred. The…

  • Kurşunlu Külliyesi Complex

    Eskişehir

    This religious complex, once used as a Mevlevi lodge by Eskişehir's Sufi community, was built between 1517 and 1525 by a leading master of classical…

  • City Walls & Gates

    Western Anatolia

    İznik's once-imposing Roman walls, renovated by the Byzantines, no longer dominate but parts of their 5km circumference remain impressive. Four main gates…

  • Emir Sultan Cami

    Bursa

    An early Ottoman mosque, the 14th-century Emir Sultan Cami was named for Sultan Beyazıt I's son-in-law and adviser, a Persian scholar-dervish. Today's…

  • Afyon Castle

    Western Anatolia

    This kale (castle) or hisar (fortress) overlooks Afyon from a craggy rock. The strenuous approach up a steep but well-maintained set of stairs passes…

  • Bursa Citadel

    Bursa

    Some ramparts and walls still survive on the steep cliff that is the site of Bursa's citadel and its oldest neighbourhood, Tophane. Walk up Orhan Gazi …

  • Kossuth Müzesi

    Western Anatolia

    This stately whitewashed Ottoman building once housed dissident Hungarian parliamentarian Lajos Kossuth (1802–94), and exemplifies upper-class Kütahyan…

  • Old Town

    Western Anatolia

    The hilly cobbled streets that radiate out around the Ulu Cami are chock-a-block with a liquorice allsorts selection of colourful Ottoman timber-framed…

  • Hierapolis Archaeology Museum

    Pamukkale

    Housed in former Roman baths, this excellent museum exhibits spectacular sarcophagi from nearby archaeological site Laodicea and elsewhere; small finds…

  • İznik Museum

    Western Anatolia

    İznik's museum is housed in a soup kitchen that Sultan Murat I built for his mother, Nilüfer Hatun, in 1388. Born a Byzantine princess, Nilüfer was given…

  • Kapalı Çarşı

    Bursa

    Bursa's sprawling Kapalı Çarşı (Covered Market) complex is made up of several historic buildings strung out along Kapalı Çarşı Caddesi, the market's main…

  • Archaeological Museum

    Eskişehir

    This modern museum showcases artefacts from the Chalcolithic era to Ottoman times. Downstairs is devoted to bigger pieces such as sarcophagi, milestones…

  • Aya Sofya

    Western Anatolia

    Originally a great Justinian church, Aya Sofya (Church of the Divine Wisdom) is now a mosque surrounded by a rose garden. The building encompasses ruins…

  • Dönenler Cami

    Western Anatolia

    Look for the mechanical rotating dervish statue on the roundabout at the southern end of Cumhuriyet Caddesi and you'll see the Dönenler Cami directly…

  • İmaret Cami

    Western Anatolia

    Afyon's major mosque complex (a five-minute walk from Hükümet Meydanı) was built for Gedik Ahmet Paşa in 1472. The blue-tiled, spiral-fluted minaret…

  • Yeşil Türbe

    Bursa

    The mausoleum of 5th Ottoman sultan Mehmed I Çelebi (and several of his children) stands in a cypress-trimmed park opposite the Yeşil Cami. During his…

  • Kent Park

    Eskişehir

    Manicured to a tee, Kent Park is a civic masterpiece of liveable city urban planning. During summer, the artificial sandy beach and swimming pool is…

  • Mevlevihane Cami

    Western Anatolia

    This 13th-century Seljuk creation was a dervish lodge when Sultan Veled (son of dervish founder Celaleddin Rumi) made Afyon the empire's most important…

  • Temple of Apollo

    Pamukkale

    The foundations of the Temple of Apollo at Hierapolis remain today. Once the heart of the city, this was where people came to consult the temple's oracle…

  • Eskişehir Science & Experiment Centre

    Eskişehir

    If you're travelling with kids, this colourful complex makes for an entertaining break from all the historical ruins. Like a cross between a science…

  • Tile Museum

    Western Anatolia

    Located in the non-working İmaret Cami, this museum showcases Kütahya's kiln-fired past. Ceramics include 14th-century Seljuk tile fragments and large…

  • Lefke Gate

    Western Anatolia

    Part of İznik's Roman-Byzantine fortifications, the eastern Lefke Gate comprises three gateways dating from Byzantine times. The middle of these bears a…

  • Koza Han

    Bursa

    The finely restored Koza Han, with its leafy inner courtyard filled with cafes, is the most popular place to break your market explorations. The…

  • Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum

    Bursa

    Housed in the former medrese (seminary) of the Yeşil Cami, this museum contains 14th- to 16th-century İznik ceramics, jewellery, embroidery, calligraphy,…

  • Tombs of Sultans Osman & Orhan

    Bursa

    The tombs of Sultans Osman and Orhan, founders of the Ottoman Empire, are interred in a park at the summit of Bursa Citadel. The original structures were…