Afyonkarahisar Castle

Afyonkarahisar Castle, locally known as Afyonkarahisar Kalesi, lies in the city of the same name, in the province of Afyonkarahisar in Turkey.

The approximately 220 m high volcanic rock was first fortified around 1350 BC by the Hittites, possibly by their king Mursili II, to protect the town which they called "Hapanuwa". Later it was occupied by Phrygians, Lydians, and the Persian Achaemenid Empire.

In 333 BC, the town was conquered by Alexander the Great. The Macedons called the town Akroinon/Akronium, a name that kept being used by the rulers that succeeded them; the Seleucids, the kings of Pergamon and the Roman Empire.

When the Byzantine emperor Leo III managed to secure a decisive victory over an Umayyad Arab invading force in the Battle of Akroinon in 740, the town was renamed Nicopolis (Greek for "city of victory").

In 1071 the area was conquered by the Seljuks. They then gave the castle the name "Kara Hisar" (Turkish for "Black Fortress"). The castle was much fought over during the Crusades and was finally conquered by the Ottomans in 1392. It was lost after the invasion of Timur Lenk in 1402, but was recaptured in 1428/1429.

Under Ottoman rule the town became known as Afyon (Turkish for "opium") as raw opium was widely produced in the area until the late 1960s. This name was officially changed to Afyonkarahisar in 2004.

During its history Afyonkarahisar Castle was rebuilt and changed by the succeeding rulers. What remains today is mainly Byzantine and Ottoman in origin, with modern-day repairs. The castle has a very irregular plan, as its curtain walls follow the shape of the rock. Inside are several cisterns, rock-cut stairs and graves. When I visited, there were archaeological excavations going on in the western corner of the castle which uncovered foundations of various buildings.

Afyonkarahisar Castle is freely accessible via a strenuous set of stairs from the south side of the castle rock. A great castle.

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