Tekören

 

Among the Phrygian sites that are presently known in the neighbourhood, the one near the village of Tekören, ca. 7 km north of Ballıhisar and just north of the ancient marble quarries in Istiklalbağı, is the most impressive.

 

The site consists of a large settlement area and potters' quarters of ca. 10 ha., with Bronze and Iron Age material, and an open-air sanctuary with old-Phrygian monuments (8^th/6^th century BC) such as rock-cut chamber tombs and a stepped altar.

 

 

 

The chamber tomb is cut from the rock and has a saddle roof imitated in stone which is typical of Phrygian house-building, as well as an elaborate doorway and two cut-away beds. At a distance of some meters from this ‘elite' tomb there is a granite-hewn step throne for Kybele and a double basin, probably for ritual use, now considered as a winepress. Important parallels for these monuments exist in the Phrygian highlands, in Midas Şehri.