Aezoni (Çavdarhisar)

This is probably the best-preserved temple in Turkey. So far as I know, it hasn’t been re-assembled (as, for example, the Celsius library at Ephesus has been). It has simply stood there for two thousand years. An old gentleman in the village told me that he had been the local mayor until the army removed him from office after the 1980 coup (he was a left-leaning fellow). He said he was sad that the inhabitants three thousand years ago were wealthier than the present villagers. He was exaggerating; but if he’d said two thousand years, who could argue with him?

Unfortunately it’s another of those sites that is not easy to reach; it’s not really on the way to anywhere. Since these photos were taken in 2005, the amphitheatre has been fully excavated.