The excavation of Gordion, the capital of the Phrygian Civilization, was conducted by Gustav Körte and Alfred Körte in 1900, and subsequently by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, under the guidance of Rodney S. Young, from 1950 to 1973. The excavations continued at the site under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania Museum with an international team, directed by Keith DeVries (1977–1987), G. Kenneth Sams and Mary M. Voigt (1988–2006), G. Kenneth Sams and C. Brian Rose (2006–2012), and C. Brian Rose (2012–present). The most fascinating finds from Gordion are on display at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. Some finds from Gordion are also in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums and the Gordion Museum, located in the village Yassıhöyük near Gordion itself.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was founded in 1921, initially as the Ankara Archaeological Museum. The museum has numerous exhibits of Anatolian archaeology. They start with the Palaeolithic era, and continue chronologically through the Neolithic, Early Bronze, Assyrian trading colonies, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods. There is also an extensive collection of artefacts, including the ones from the excavations at Gordion.

Text by our correspondent from Didyma, Glenn Maffia. All photos by Graeme Patrick Houlden.

The eminently laudable desire in restoring ancient architecture is an endeavour that seeks to preserve our human cultural heritage while exhibiting the architectural grandeur of previous civilizations.

Nonetheless, extreme caution in the use of modern materials in this restoration process must be of paramount attention in this aspiration. For, inevitably, this use of contemporary materials raises concerns about the potential perils faced by these historic structures.