Source of the Büyük Menderes (Meander) river Population: 26,300
Old names: Celaenae-Apamea, Cibotos
Market day: Tuesday
The small town of Dinar between Denizli and Burdur is Jeremy Seal country because it’s here that the British travel writer started out on the canoe ride down the Büyük Menderes river that culminated in his travelogue, Meander.
The town itself has little to offer despite a gallant attempt to talk up local efforts to fund-raise for a plane before the start of World War Two. The Ulu Cami dates back to the 17th century but has little to show for the 300 years.
Yet once upon a time this was the location of the Hellenistic town of Apamea, slight traces of whose theatre and stadium are visible to those with eyes to see. The foundations of a Byzantine church also survive on a hillside above the suburb of Şeyh Arap, probably the original source of the Meander although the river is now dry here. A few Greco-Roman stones survive in an evocative cemetery which contains the revered grave of an Islamic saint.
Aside from the Meander, Dinar is also the source of the rivers Marsyas, Ilıca and Incisu. Only the source of the Marsyas is remotely attractive though, with the large Suçıkan tea garden and picnic area set round a duck pond and waterfall, with a small ethnography collection housed in an unnecessarily large curved building beside it. A collection of pieces of marble and masonry found during digs around town can also be seen in an enclosure beside the tea garden. It was near here, supposedly, that the musical duel between the Greek god Apollo and the hubristic satyr Marsyas took place, ending in the flaying of the satyr as punishment for his audacity.
Sleeping
Transport info
There are regular buses and minibuses from Denizli to Dinar. Dinar’s battered old otogar is on the western outskirts of town.
Onward minibuses to Isparta leave from across the road from the Grand Akdeniz Hotel. To get to Burdur you must change in Isparta; there are no direct services.
Infrequent trains connect Dinar to Eskişehir and İstanbul. There’s also one service a day to and from Denizli but not at particularly convenient times.
Day trip destinations
