Ayazini, İhsaniye

Ayazini
Ayazini
Village
	Ayazini Location in Turkey
	Coordinates: 39°00′50″N 30°34′30″E / 39.01389°N 30.57500°ECoordinates: 39°00′50″N 30°34′30″E / 39.01389°N 30.57500°E
Country	Turkey
Region	Aegean
Province	Afyonkarahisar
District	İhsaniye
Government
• Headmen	Bekir Yılmaz
Population (2020)
• Total	930
Time zone	UTC+3 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	03380
Area code	0-272
Vehicle registration plate	03

Ayazini is a village in the District of İhsaniye, Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. It is a historical place settled by Phrygians, Ancient Romans, Byzantines and Seljuks. There are dwellings, churches and tomb chambers in rock-cut architecture at the archaeological site.

Overview

The name of the settlement, a Turkish derivation of the Greek "Aya Sion" (Greek: Αγία Σιών), was changed to "Ayazin" in 1910.^[1]

Ayazini took the municipality status on 29 December 1998.^[2] The status was revoked in 2013 due to the decrease of the village population to under 2,000.^[3] As of 2020, the total population of the village was 930. The population declined from 1,153 in 2013.^[4] The village headman is Bekir Yılmaz.^[5]

Location

Ayazini is located north of Afyonkarahisarr, and reachable 4.7 km (2.9 mi) east of the Afyonkarahisar-Eskişehir highway's D.665 27 km (17 mi).^[6] It is situated in the so-called "Phrygian Valley".^[7]^[8]

History

Rock-cut Byzantine church.

Rock-carved Ancient Roman tomb with Medusa relief.

The location has been used as a settlement since the Phrygian Period. There are family and single-person rock tomb chambers with lion figures and columns from the Roman and Byzantine periods, churches and rock dwellings from the Byzantine Period, thanks to carving-suitable rocks. In addition there is the Avdalaz Castle with a cistern carved into massive rock.^[6] After the Byzantine era, the site was settled by the Seljuks. It was reported that there are more than 300 caves in various size used as dwelling and 35 churches and chapels.^[7]

Rock-carved dwellings

Rock dwellings from the Early Byzantine Period are found in the entrance and inside the village. The dwellings have single rooms, rooms grouped side by side or one over the other. Some are accessible by steps or by tunnel-shaped passages from other rooms. In some rooms, there are benches and niches of various size for storing objects and candles or oil lamps. The rock dwellings on both sides of the entrance to Avdalaz Valley are large. The dwellings on one side is in multi-story form. In the inside, there are deep pits used as a hearth and warehouse. A circular room featuring seats side by side around the walls is accessible by an inclined tunnel. Next to this section, a slightly-elevated toilet room is carved into rock.^[6]

Castle dwelling

There are multi-story dwellings resembling today's apartments in the rock-carved castle at the upper end of the Avdalaz Valley. A cistern is carved on the castle's ground.^[6]

Rock church

A church structure carved into steep tuff rock is situated at the entrance to Ayazini. It has an apse and a dome. Built in the 1000s, it has a monastery structure with the adjacent rock chambers.^[6]

Rock-cut tombs

The facade of the rock-carved tombs are in the form of columned openings arched with a figure of Medusa. Some tombs are decorated with lion figure reliefs. On one tomb, the owner couple is depicted.^[6]

Tourism

The Governor of Afyonkarahisar Province started the establishment of the "Phrygia Open-air Museum" with a visitor center under the project of "Restoration of Ayazini and Improvement of Village Streets".^[5]^[8] The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and the Department of Archaeology of the Afyon Kocatepe University support the project.^[7]

References

^ "Ayazin" (in Turkish). Nişanyan Yer Adları. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "Belediye Kurulmasına Dair Kararlar" (PDF) (in Turkish). Resmî Gazete. 30 December 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "İşte Kapatılacak 559 Belde !". kamudan.com. 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ "Afyonkarahisar Şhsaniye Ayazşni Köyü Nüfusu: 930" (in Turkish). Nüfusu Ne. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b Yavuz, Arif (9 January 2021). "'Frigya'nın kalbi' Ayazini köyü başlatılan projelerle çekim merkezi olacak". Anadolu News Agency (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Ayazini Ören Yeri – Afyonkarahisar" (in Turkish). Türkiye Kültür Portalı. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "'Frigya'nın kalbi' Ayazini Köyü'ndeki kaya mezarlar turistleri cezbediyor". NTV (Turkey)NTV (in Turkish). 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Frig Vadisi turizme kazandırılıyor". TRT Haberk (in Turkish). 9 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[nm-1] "Ayazin" (in Turkish). Nişanyan Yer Adları. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[rg1-2] "Belediye Kurulmasına Dair Kararlar" (PDF) (in Turkish). Resmî Gazete. 30 December 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[k1-3] "İşte Kapatılacak 559 Belde !". kamudan.com. 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[nn-4] "Afyonkarahisar Şhsaniye Ayazşni Köyü Nüfusu: 930" (in Turkish). Nüfusu Ne. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

[aa1-5] Yavuz, Arif (9 January 2021). "'Frigya'nın kalbi' Ayazini köyü başlatılan projelerle çekim merkezi olacak". Anadolu News Agency (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[tkp-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Ayazini Ören Yeri – Afyonkarahisar" (in Turkish). Türkiye Kültür Portalı. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[ntv1-7] "'Frigya'nın kalbi' Ayazini Köyü'ndeki kaya mezarlar turistleri cezbediyor". NTV (Turkey)NTV (in Turkish). 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[trth1-8] "Frig Vadisi turizme kazandırılıyor". TRT Haberk (in Turkish). 9 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.

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