UNESCO-Listed 1274 Sivrihisar Ulu Cami, Clock Tower and Nasreddin Hodja

Ninety-five kilometres south-east of central Eskişehir along the Ankara, İzmir highway (1 hour 10 minutes by car or frequent bus from Eskişehir Otogar), the jagged granite peaks of the Sivrihisar Mountains ("Pointed Castle") rise dramatically above the plain. In 2023, Sivrihisar's medieval congregational mosque was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, making Sivrihisar an essential half-day trip or stopover.

1. The UNESCO-Listed Sivrihisar Ulu Cami (Built 1231 to 1274)

Built by Emir Celaleddin Ali Bey during the reign of Seljuk Sultan Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev III and restored in 1274 by Mevlana Rumi's close disciple Eminüddin Mikail, Sivrihisar Ulu Cami is one of the largest wooden-pillared mosques in Anatolia (accommodating 2,500 worshippers):

• 67 Wooden Columns & Spolia Capitals from Ancient Pessinus: step inside the serene, cedar-scented prayer hall to stand among sixty-seven towering juniper and pine-tree columns arranged in six rows parallel to the qibla wall. Look closely at the tops and bases of the wooden trunks: nineteen of the columns are crowned with recycled Roman and Byzantine carved marble Corinthian capitals brought from the nearby ancient temple city of Pessinus, while the central wooden trunks are painted with red, green and black traditional Seljuk motifs.
• The 1244 Walnut Minbar (Pulpit): carved by master Hasan bin Mehmed using the nail-free interlocking kündekari geometric technique, considered one of the three finest medieval wooden pulpits in the Islamic world.

2. Surp Yerortutyun Church (1650), the Metin Yurdanur Sculpture Park & Nasreddin Hodja

Everything else in Sivrihisar sits within a 10-minute walk at the foot of the granite crags:

1. Surp Yerortutyun Armenian Church (1650) & The Open-Air Sculpture Park: one of the largest historic churches in Central Anatolia, surrounded by Turkey's first Open-Air Sculpture Garden featuring over 100 monumental bronze statues by Sivrihisar-born sculptor Prof. Metin Yurdanur (whose famous statue of Nasreddin Hodja on his donkey also greets travellers at Ankara Station).
2. The 1900 Hilltop Clock Tower, Zaimağa Mansion & Nasreddin Hodja's Birthplace (Hortu): climb the steps to the 1900 Clock Tower on the rock ledge, visit Zaimağa Konağı (where Atatürk and the Cabinet held the first Council of Ministers meeting outside Ankara in 1922), and stop 20 minutes away in Hortu (Nasreddin Hoca Village), the historical 1208 birthplace of the beloved Anatolian wit and philosopher Nasreddin Hodja, or 16 km south at the marble Roman temple-theatre of Ancient Pessinus (Ballıhisar).