The powerful King Midas tries to hide his donkey's ears in a Phrygian cap but his barber who promises not to tell anyone about the donkey ears cannot take it any longer and digs a hole in the ground and then whispers over and over again "Midas has donkey's ears". Thus Lhe reeds around the hole circulate this secret across the valley and the town. Today, the reeds in the region of Kutahya-Eskisehir- Afyon called the Phyrgian Valley keep perhaps whispering the unfortunate barber's words over the world with the wind.
The Phyrgians enjoying their heyday during the reign of King Midas are an Anatolian civilisation; they topple the Hittites in Anatolia in 1200 BC, builds a powerful political union and they spread over a wide space in time by constructing new settlements. This region is called today the Phyrgian Valley. Although the valley is situated in the region of Kutahya-Eskisehir- Afyon, the main area forming the nucleus of the Valley is the small plateau located today between the upper tracks of the Sakarya River and the Meander River.
There are clues indicating that the Phyrgians came to the Central Anatolia via Thrace and their first homeland is supposed to be Macedonia.
Phyrgian civilization dates back to 1000 BC. Phyrgia had two important centers: One of them is the political center Gordion (Ankara) and the other one with the status of religious center Midas (Yazilikaya-Eskisehir). In Yazilikaya developed as the town of Phyrgia after the Hittites, there are many works belonging to the Phyrgian culture such as castle walls, settlements, rock reliefs, rock monuments, cisterns, altars, pits for storing snow or ice, rock tombs, monuments with steps, niches and antique roads. Although they are eroded because of the nature conditions, they still survive. The open air temples dedicated to the goddess Kybele of Phyrgians, altars and rock tombs and the caves used with the purpose of defense and accomodation are among the most attractive works on the Phyrgian Valley. During the Byzantine era, chapels and churches have been carved too in addition to them. The Phyrgian Valley with its natural rock structure and pine forests seems to be a civilisation mosaic where the history, nature and human love are intermingled with each other. The Phyrgian plateaus covered with volcanic tufas of Turkmen Mountain which is an extinct volcano situated on the east of Kutahya have been preferred and settled by various tribes since old centuries. The volcanic tufas easily processed enabled the Phyrgians who are one of the most ancient populations of the region to use them for various purposed through carving and cutting. For this reason, many villages possess grave rooms, spaces used as folds and stables, cisterns and warehouses, caves used to take shelter and to accomodate and graves.
The region doesn't only prevail with its historical and cultural resources. The spa facilities mostly located in Afyon and spread over the region make the Phyrgian Valley a touristic lure.
