Sivrihisar means pointed fortress, and the name fits: the little town clusters around a rocky crag in the middle of the high, open country west of Ankara, in what used to be the borderland between Phrygia and Galatia. The Ulu Mosque, the great mosque, is the main attraction, a building of the late thirteenth century with a forest of wooden pillars inside holding up a flat timber roof. This style, in which a prayer hall is filled with carved columns and beams rather than stone arches, was common in medieval Anatolia, and only a few good examples survive. The wood is dark with age, the carvings are worn smooth by centuries of touch, and the effect is a hush that feels very different from the grand stone mosques of Istanbul.
Just outside town, the ancient city of Pessinus, at the village of Ballıhisar, was a sacred place of the goddess Cybele in Roman times, and pilgrims came from across the empire to visit her shrine. The ruins include a temple and a theatre, with a modest museum, and the site is often empty. Sivrihisar also holds a popular air festival, with gliders and light aircraft over the plain, taking advantage of the steady winds that blow across the plateau.
The ride into town from Ankara or Eskişehir is straightforward, over a plateau of wheat fields, low ridges and wide skies. Roads are generally good, with long, easy bends, and the main danger is wind and the occasional slow truck. In summer the steppe turns tawny and shimmers with heat, in spring it is green and carpeted with flowers, and in winter snow can close minor roads.
Sivrihisar has about ten thousand people, so there is fuel, a small bazaar, bakeries and tea houses on the main street. The nearest larger towns are a long way off, so fill the tank here. The bakeries sell hot flatbread in the morning, and the tea houses fill up by nine. Spring and early autumn are the best times, with comfortable temperatures and clear air.