Beypazarı
Beypazarı is a city in Central Anatolia in Turkey. With a population in 2020 of 48,732, it lies 100 km west of the capital Ankara, and is governed as a district of that city.
Understand
The town is in a valley that has long been a trade and pilgrimage route between Constantinople / Istanbul and Ankara, and is now the route of Highway D140. It's the largest of a string of towns along that route, also briefly described on this page: west to east these are Nallıhan, Çayırhan, then Beypazarı and Ayaş. In Roman times Beypazarı was known as Lagania, meaning a rocky outcrop, but when the Roman emperor Anastasius I visited around 500 AD and was delighted with the place, his minions took the hint and renamed it Anastasiopolis. It fell to the Seljuks in the 12th century then the Ottomans: Gazi Gündüzalp the grandfather of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman dynasty, is buried here.
The Ottomans made this a cavalry base and renamed it Beypazarı, "the Bey's market". The valley has agriculture and they're particularly proud of their carrots, with a large phallic statue at the foot of the old town in case you'd overlooked this. The area is also industrial, with quarrying for ores such as soda for glass-making. The town has grown to sprawl several km southwest along the valley, but this hasn't disturbed the historic centre.
Get in
Bus 548 runs three times a day from Sincan, the west terminus of Ankara's metro railway and stop for YHT trains from Istanbul and Konya. It follows Highway D140 and takes two hours via Ayaş.
Bus 577 runs five times a day from Ankara's main bus station AŞTİ via Ayaş to Beypazarı and continues to Nallıhan, another hour.
1 Beypazarı Otogarı the bus terminal is southeast side of town centre. The buses also stop at other intersections on D140.
Driving from Istanbul, it's simplest to stay on E89 to Sincan on the edge of Ankara then turn west on D140. You could also leave O-7 just past Adapazarı to take D140 east.
Get around
The old town is compact and walkable, but you need wheels to explore sights along the historic trade and pilgrimage route.
See
- 1 İncili Mosque is at the top of the modern street İrfan Gümüşel Cd, by the "carrots" roundabout at the foot of the old town. It was built in 1364 in Selcuk style and has a wooden minaret. It was destroyed by fire in the 19th century but rebuilt.
- Yeni Cami or New Mosque 100 m north of İncili Mosque was built in 1895.
- Old town northwest of the carrot sculpture is several blocks of traditional Ottoman architecture, including Suluhan Nasuh Paşa Hanı a 400-year old courtyard marketplace.
- Alaadin Mosque at the corner of Alaadin and Çınar Sk was originally built in the 13th century but the present building is early 19th.
- Türk Hamam Müzesi at the corner of Alaadin and Yenice Sk is a small traditional bathhouse with an exhibition on hamams. It's open daily 09:00-18:30.
- Beypazarı History and Culture House is on Yenice Sk 50 m west of the hamam.
- 2 Yaşayan Müze (Living Museum), Çınar Sk 17, ☏ +90 312 763 2223. Daily 09:00-19:30. This is an ethnographic museum in a converted mansion, with displays of local crafts and culture.
- 3 Kent Tarihi Müzesi, Cumhuriyet Cd 79. Daily 09:00-17:00. The town museum is on two floors of an old mansion, and an hour will be plenty. The building across the roundabout opposite formerly hosted the museum but is now a cafe. The sculpture on the roundabout is of the Anatolian panther, locally extinct but still just-about surviving in Turkey's eastern mountains.
- 4 Hıdırlıktepe is a knoll with views over the old town. It's relentlessly modern, with a glass terrace and concrete patio, accessible daily 09:00-19:00.
Further out
- 5 İnözü Valley 2 km north of town is a canyon with dwellings, tombs and churches carved into the rockface.
- 6 Ayaş
is 60 km west of Ankara, so it's the first sizable town encountered on D140 once you get beyond Sincan. It's similar to Beypazarı for its old Ottoman houses and mosques cascading down the hillside. It has a geothermal area and hotels. - 7 Çayırhan 25 km west of Beypazarı was another town on the old trade route: "-han" indicates a caravanserai. But the valley was flooded after Sarıyar Dam was built in 1956, so the present town is modern, relocated 3 km east, and its environs are industrial with ore mining. You can take a boat ride across the barrage lake to the scanty Roman ruins of Juliopolis.
- 8 Nallıhan Bird Reserve (Nallıhan Kuş Cenneti) is 33 km west of Beypazarı, near Çayırhan. It's a wetland in what was once an inland sea, but dried up until 1959 when Sarıyar barrage lake flooded the valley. There's a visitor centre and birdwatching hides. North across the lake, Mount Kıztepe is an eroded massif of brightly contrastingly rock layers, which tourist brochures call "Rainbow Hills".
- 9 Nallıhan 60 km west of Beypazarı was another stopover on the trade route. Its caravanserai Kocahan is now a food and souvenir market. Nasuhpaşa Mosque nearby is late Ottoman. The northwest corner of town, Akdere village, has many traditional buildings.
- 10 Emremsultan is a tiny village south of Nallıhan with the tomb and shrine of Tapduk Emre. His most famous disciple was Yunus Emre (1238-1328), the poet and Sufi mystic, who is buried some 50 km south at the village named after him.
Do
- Beypazarı Festivali is held in the first week of June, with music and other cultural events.
Buy
- Supermarket: Migros at İrfan Gümüşel Cd 10 in town centre is open daily 09:00-22:00.
Eat
- Restaurants are round the "carrots" roundabout and in old town northwest. They include Tarihi Hanlarönü, Has Değirmencioğlu Lokantası, Beypazarı Köftecisi, Kahyaoğlu Gözleme Evi, Tarihi Taş Konak and Mevaların Konağı.
- Baklava locally is prepared with double pastry, 80 filo leaves instead of the standard 40.
Drink
Many cafes serve beer, there isn't a free-standing pub.
Sleep
- Beypalas, İrfan Gümüşel Cd 47 (100 m northwest of bus terminal), ☏ +90 312 763 0112. Boxy modern hotel, clean and central. B&B double 2500 TL.
- Akşemseddin Otel is next to Beypalas but remains closed.
- Lagania As Hotel, İrfan Gümüşel Cd 12 / 84 (50 m northwest of Beypalas), ☏ +90 312 770 0606. Friendly clean budget place near town centre. B&B double 1000 TL.
- Kayıboyu Otel, Eski Hükümet Sk 5 (old town centre), ☏ +90 312 762 7792. This is in the old centre but it's a clean modern building. B&B double 800 TL.
- Beypazarı İpekyolu Konağı is south adjacent to Kayıboyu. "İpekyolu" means "Silk Road" and they're aiming for boutique, with partial success.
- Selam Hotel is a ramshackle converted mansion 50 m south of İpekyolu.
- 1 Akropol, Küme Evler Sk 10/A, ☏ +90 312 770 0333. Large outlying resort hotel with pool and spa supplied by geothermal hot springs.
Connect
As of Jan 2024, Beypazarı has 4G from all Turkish carriers, but coverage is patchy on its approach highways. 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.
Go next
- Ankara the capital is mostly modern but with a historic core. Road and rail routes from here fan out across central Turkey.
- Eskişehir southwest is a university city and mostly modern.