Beycesultan Mound
The first settlements in Çivril began at Beycesultan Mound, where finds dating to around 4000 BC have been recovered.
View on map7 places to visit in the Çivril district of Denizli: Beycesultan Mound, Işıklı Lake and Çivril Plain. Plan your trip to Çivril with local food, practical tips and transport information.
Çivril, the third-largest district of Denizli province, is known for its industry and tourism, and for Işıklı Lake and its water lilies. The district covers 1,570 km², and its average elevation above sea level is 830 metres. The name Çivril comes from Chagatai Turkish and means “a place with plenty of water” and “a wet place”.
History
The first settlements in Çivril began with the settlement at Beycesultan Mound, where finds dating to around 4000 BC have been recovered. Beycesultan Mound was then home to the Arzawa, Hittites, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Lydians, Persians, Macedonians, Seleucids, Pergamon, Romans, Byzantines, the Great Seljuks and the Anatolian Seljuks. The name Çivril first appears in Byzantine documents describing the Battle of Myriokephalon, and in 12th-century documents it is recorded in Greek script as “Tribritzi” and in Latin script as “Cyybrilcimani”. The Myriokephalon victory of 1176, which is linked to the Malazgirt victory that opened Anatolia to the Turks, was of great importance in securing the title to Anatolia.
Geography and Tourism
Because the Büyük Menderes irrigates the Çivril Plain, the plain was once marshy, and cattle, buffalo and wild horse herds lived in the area. In the time known in history as the “March of the Ten Thousand”, the Persian king Darius Xerxes camped on the Çivril Plain for a month to supply his army. Işıklı, 11 km from Çivril, was an ancient city called Eumania in the 250s BC, founded in the same period as Hierapolis and Laodicea.
History and Culture
The Battle of Myriokephalon was won in Çivril, and this battle is considered to be of great importance in the Turkification of Anatolia. Excavations were carried out at Beycesultan Mound between 1954 and 1959 on behalf of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara.
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