The old city of “white gold” Population: 834,000
Old name: Dorylaeum (Roman)
Back in 2003 Eskişehir was a large but unexciting Western Anatolian town on the Porsuk river, where it was surprisingly hard to find a decent place to eat but which was anxiously awaiting the arrival of its new tram. Ten years later it was a bustling, vibrant, university town with wide pedestrianised boulevards, riverside walks and one of the finest public transport systems outside of İstanbul and Ankara. Most of the ensuing publicity focused on the restoration of the old Odunpazarı part of town although almost all of the town centre looked a great deal more pleased with itself. The man largely credited with the transformation was three-times mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen.
Eskişehir is connected to İstanbul, Konya and Ankara by high-speed train, making it a popular day-trip destination for domestic tourists. Visitors from abroad are far less numerous.
Backstory
As its name suggests, Eskişehir (Old Town) has a long history dating back to the Hittites who are thought to have founded a settlement here around 1460 BC. A rather gruesome local legend recounts how the original settlers took three sets of sheep’s lungs and livers and hung them from poles near the Porsuk river in what is now the Odunpazarı area and at Sarıhöyük, which later became the city of Dorylaeum. The set placed in the Odunpazarı area took the longest to rot so that was where they decided to pitch their tents.
The Phrygians took over in c. 700 BC and established Dorylaeum which passed in turn to the Celts and then the Romans. Sadly, however, there is almost nothing left of this old city, safe a few pretty column capitals borrowed to brighten up the Kurşunlu Cami and the fragments lurking in the Archaeology Museum.
The Selçuks also had their day in the sun here, founding the Alaaddin Cami in the process. However, it was only in the late Ottoman period that the town started to boom, a process that accelerated towards the end of the 19th century with the arrival of the railway. At that time Eskişehir was a centre of the timber trade, exporting wood from the surrounding forests to pay off the Ottoman Empire’s debts; grainy old photographs show the carts that conveyed the wood gathered in front of what is now the Odunpazarı (Wood Market) Mahallesi, the hilly neighbourhood where most of the Turks lived.
The two battles of Dorylaeum. During the Crusades two major battles were fought at Dorylaeum, probably close to what is now the small settlement of Karacahisar rather than on the site of Eskişehir itself. In the first of the fights in 1097 the armies of the First Crusade managed to drive back the Selçuks under their great leader, Kılıç Arslan. In the second in 1147 the tables were turned and the the German contingent of the Second Crusade were decimated by the Selçuk leader, Mesud I.
Around town
There are two main areas of interest for visitors to Eskişehir: the Odunpazarı neighbourhood centred on the Odunpazarı Moden Müzesi (OMM); and the banks of the Porsuk river.
Odunpazarı
The Odunpazarı part of town is the bustling heart of tourist Eskişehir, its narrow streets lined with brightly-coloured restored Ottoman houses, many of them turned into small cafes, museums and shops catering to tourists. In 2019 the Odunpazari Modern Müzesi (OMM) opened to showcase the art collection of architect and industrialist Erol Tabanca in a spectacularly beautiful wooden building created by the Japanese company, Kengo Kuma and Associates. Most of the art consists of minor works by famous names from Turkish art history such as Bedri Rami Eyüboğlu, Nuri İyem and Erol Akyavaş but there are some very fine contemporary pieces too.
Just a few streets away is the Eskişehir Hamam Müzesi which opened in 2022 to remind people of the city’s once-rich hamam culture. It’s a state-of-the-art museum with good mannequins and some labelling in English – I rated it more highly than the two small hamam museums in İstanbul. It stands on the site of an old hamam which is being restored and is expected to open to the public in 2024-25.
Another local landmark is the Kurşunlu Cami complex which dates back to 1525 and still retains its kitchens and library (housed in what was originally a sibyan mektebi or primary school). There’s a small collection of fine pipes and other pieces carved from luletaşı (meerschaum – “sea foam”) along with pictures of the mines in one of the buildings surrounding the mosque. Luletaşı is a porous stone, nicknamed “white gold”. It’s mined in villages around Eskişehir such as Kozlubel and Sepetci Köyü, which also calls itself Beyaz Altın (White Gold) in honour of the source of its wealth.
Opposite the entrance to the mosque, the Beylerbeyi Konağı houses the idiosyncratic collections of an ex-pharmacist, including a recreation of his shop and a dusty cupboard full of artificial limbs. Not exciting enough for you? It’s still worth dropping in anyway for a chance to see the interior of a typical old Eskişehirli home with a spectacular wooden ceiling on the top floor.
Also worth tracking down isthe Atlıhan, the 19th-century caravanserai where foresters from the surrounding villages used to come with their carts of timber and put up for the night before returning home again. This has been restored to house lots of little craftshops, most of them selling items made from luletaşı.
Also worth looking out for is the İsmail Alkılıçgil Fotoğraf Evi, which showcases the photographs of old Eskişehir taken by a Bulgarian-born photographer who lived here until his death, at the age of 75, in 2003. Immediately across the road the Hafiz Ahmet Efendi Konağı dates back to 1717, and is a great place to eat mantı (ravioli) in a secluded cobbled courtyard.
On the edge of the Odunpazarı in what was the Abacı Konağı development (this failed during Covid) a museum of modern glass art is housed inside a reconstructed Ottoman han. The upper floor contains the Kent Belleği Müzesi (City Memories Museum). It’s less wordy than similar museums elsewhere but you may feel that you didn’t really learn a great deal from it. Here, too, is a Waxwork Museum which might interest bored children.
Köprübaşı and the Porsuk river
The most pleasant way to get to Köprübaşı (Bridgehead) from Odunpazarı is to walk along pedestrianised Hamamyolu Caddesi. In the 19th century this was the Greek and Armenian part of town, and old photos show a stream running along the road with little wooden bridges crossing it and traders hawking snow that had been compressed in wet sacks so that it would keep cold right through until August.
Unfortunately in 1922 at the end of the Turkish War of Independence the retreating Greek army set fire to this area so that it is now unrelentingly modern. However, it’s still one of the liveliest parts of town, the stream corralled into a series of pools complete with fountains and statues alongside which Eskişehirlis stroll, eyeing up several inviting delicatessens and ice-cream shops along the way.
At the Köprübaşı end of Hamamyolu Caddesi there are several hamams (Turkish baths), mainly for men, that take advantage of thermal springs gushing out of the ground at 55°C. This part of town was once called Sıcaksular (Hot Waters), and it was where the Roman and Byzantine rulers built their palaces. Since nothing remains of these structures, you should press on towards nearby Tepebaşı where the old Porsuk Hotel is housed on a small island inside a fine example of First National Architecture. It boasts a magnificent view along the Porsuk river.
Taking a leaf out of the Birmingham and Manchester school of urban revival, the river has been cleaned up, banked in to prevent flooding and given wide pedestrianised boulevards on either side. These are lined with all sorts of places to eat and drink from simple nargile cafes to the odd chi-chi restaurant, all of them crammed with happy locals.
The Porsuk may not be an Amsterdam canal, but it’s still possible to take a ride in a glass-topped boat along it. Alternatively you can opt for a Venetian-style gondola, albeit one powered by a motor. Both offer great ways to appreciate the many pretty bridges that have sprung up here since 2006.
Elsewhere in town
The Archaeological Museum is a little way out on a limb, 1km east along Cumhuriyet Caddesi. Here you’ll see the finds from many digs that have taken place in the vicinity, including from Sarıhöyük, the site of the original Dorylaeum. Other finds come from Nakoleia, an ancient city near Seyitgazi, and from Han, also near Seyitgazi. It is not the most exciting museum although if you are spending a few days here it’s worth a look. There’s a cafe on site.
Eating
The Odunpazarı has many small cafes and restaurants, including the Osmanlı Evi Restaurant (Tel: 0222-220 7600) which is housed in a beautiful old house, its wooden fittings attractively repainted in green and gold. There are also lots of small cafes selling an inviting range of baked goods, including the Crimean Tatar speciality, çiğbörek/çibörek – puffs of fried flaky pastry stuffed with mince or cheese and delicious when hot. Since it was introduced to the area by Crimean Tatar immigrants the best place to try it is probably the Krim Tatar Kültür Çibörek Evi where the walls come festooned with reminders of the Tatars’ exile from their homeland. The owner’s grandmother was one of those forced from her home; the owner still speaks the Tatar language too.
Probably the best place to eat in the Odunpazarı is Aysen Usta which offers plentiful indoor and outdoor seating where you can enjoy a range of standard and less familiar Turkish dishes. The menu features huge Turkish breakfasts as well as a tasting menu with lots of unusual mains and desserts on it. For a simpler (and cheaper) breakfast İncı Börek across the street fits the bill nicely.
Vegan breakfasts, snacks and hot drinks are available in the cafe in the OMM and the hotel facing it.
There are few options for fine dining in Eskişehir although there are plenty of cafe-bars along the banks of the Porsuk that offer predictable international favourites such as burgers and toasted sandwiches along with the opportunity to people-watch in high summer. A few restaurants also tout Balaban köfte which is the same sort of meatballs on pide bread as can be eaten in Bursa.
Sleeping
Cheaper hotels congregate at the Çarşı end of Hamamyolu Caddesi with others near the railway station. A few of the restored houses in the Odunpazarı have also been turned into hotels. Some only open for part of the year.
Uysal Otel. www.uysalotel.com.tr, Asarcıklı Caddesi No. 7, tram: Çarşı. Tel: 0222-221 4353.
Transport info
There are high-speed trains (YHT) to Eskişehir from İstanbul, Ankara and Konya as well as regular buses from İstanbul, Ankara and Afyon.
The Estram tram system has two lines, one of them connecting the bus terminal with the town centre (Çarşı). Trams leave from in front of the otogar where there’s a ticket booth; if it’s closed, büfes inside the otogar also stock them.
Day trip destinations
Read more about the new Eskişehir: http://turkeyfromtheinside.com/blogbloggingaboutturkey/entry/5-5-march-2011-the-new-eskehr-.html
