Afyonkarahisar: Aslantaş and its carved doorway
At Göynüş Valley, Aslantaş’s rock-cut tomb entrance is flanked by lions and cubs, with a tree-of-life relief above and a bench inside. Nearby Yılantaş, Göynüş Castle and Maltaş are separate monuments. Some identify Aslantaş as a king’s tomb from the seventh century BCE, though both claims remain tentative. The lions, cubs and tree of life are the monument’s surest signatures.
20 narratives and 23 place records connect to this discovery world through thematic and geographic relationships.
Four gateways into this world
- Craft and material — Forms given to stone, timber, clay, thread, metal and plant material through local knowledge.
- Ritual and memory — Connections made by belief, commemoration, celebration and community memory with place.
- Music and narrative — The movement of epic, lament, zeybek, oral history and literature through geography.
- Architecture and everyday life — The relationship of house, street, workshop, market and public building with living culture.
Afyonkarahisar Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism · Göynüş Valley
Other discovery worlds
Related district guides
Story and event network
- From Afyonkarahisar Synnada Leo Telegraph to Halicarnassus Leochares Mausoleum and Knidos Chrysermus Pharmacology: Beacon Telegraphy, Mausoleum Sculpture, and Alexandrian Pharmacology
- Aizanoi Macellum World's First Inflation Price Edict Inscription (301 CE)
- Establishment of Apameia Kibotos Caravan Market and the Marsyas Myth (3rd c. BCE)
- First Musical Contest Between Apollo and Marsyas and Birth of Maeander River (500 BCE)
- From Aslantaş Giant Lions to Emre Lake Water Altars and Gazlıgöl Phrygian Springs: 4-Meter Lions, Kybele Altars, and Midas Baths
- From Dinar Su Çıkan Springs to Sultandağı Ice Cave and Şuhut Headquarters: Birth of Maeander, 2,100m Summer Ice, and August 25 Command Post
- From Dokimeion Marble to Boyalı Complex and Kızılören Grand Mosque: Roman Pavonazzetto Quarries, 13th-Century Seljuk Lodge, and Timber Mosque Architecture
- Export of Dokimeion Pavonazzetto Purple-Veined Marble to Rome's Pantheon (100 AD)
- From the Kilims of Eşme to Gediz and Sandıklı Hüdai: Natural Dyes, River Springs, and Roman Mud Baths
- Lakes, Mounds, and Trade Routes of the Inland Aegean: From Beycesultan to Apameia and the Walls of Amorium
- Rock Cities of the Inland Aegean and the Roman Stock Exchange: From Aizanoi to Ayazini and the Blaundos Cliffs
- Carving of Monumental Phrygian Royal Lion Tomb at Aslantaş, Göynüş Valley (700 BCE)
- From Kırkgöz 64 Arches to Eber Floating Peat Islands and Çay Seljuk Taş Han: Mimar Sinan Bridges, Floating Peat Islands, and Seljuk Caravanserais
- Expansion of Kırkgöz Bridge to 64 Arches by Mimar Sinan and Reconstruction of Çay Trade Route (1550 CE)
- Construction of the Seljuk Sahip Ata İshaklı Caravanserai (1249 CE)
- From Synnada to İshaklı Caravanserai and Afyon Castle: Phrygian Coins, Seljuk Sultan Hans, and Volcanic Citadels
- Invention of the 9-Tower Optical Beacon Telegraph System across Anatolia by Leo the Mathematician of Synnada (840 AD)
- From Tokalı Canyon to Yunus Emre Shrine and Bayat Kilims: 500m Cliffs, 13th-Century Mysticism, and Turkmen Dyes
- Emergence and Export of Uşak Eşme Yörük Root-Dyed Kilim Craft (1700)
- Yunus Emre's Initiation into Taptuk Emre Sufi Lodge and Sandıklı Sanctuary (1280 CE)
Connected cultural inventory
- Afyonkarahisar Castle
- Ancient City of Amorium and Hisarköy
- Ancient City of Apameia Kibotos and Dinar
- Ayazini Village and Phrygian Valley Rock Settlement
- Bayat Hand-Woven Turkmen Kilim Workshops
- Bolvadin Kırkgöz Bridge (Mimar Sinan Restoration)
- Çay Seljuk Taş Han Caravanserai and Madrasa (1278 CE)
- Dinar Su Çıkan Park and Marsyas Myth Springs
- Eber Lake Floating Peat Islands (Kopak)
- İhsaniye Aslantaş and Yılanlıtaş Monumental Phrygian Lion Tombs
- İhsaniye Emre Lake and Phrygian Water Sanctuaries
- İhsaniye Gazlıgöl 2,000-Year-Old Phrygian-Roman Thermal Springs
- İscehisar Dokimeion Ancient Marble Quarries and Pavonazzetto Galleries
- İshaklı Caravanserai and Sahip Ata Complex
- Kızılören Timber-Columned Seljuk-Ottoman Grand Mosque
- Sandıklı Akdağ Nature Park Tokalı Canyon and Wild Yılkı Horses
- Sandıklı Hüdai Roman Thermal Baths and Mud Springs
- Sandıklı Sandık Village Yunus Emre and Taptuk Emre Shrine
- Sinanpaşa Boyalı Seljuk Complex and Kureyş Baba Tomb
- Sultandağı 2,100 m Ice Cave and Dereçine Cherry Orchards
- Synnada Ancient City Birthplace of Leo the Mathematician and Optical Telegraph Acropolis
- Ancient City of Synnada and Şuhut Mint
- Şuhut Great Offensive Headquarters Hacı Veliyüddin Mansion Atatürk House