Tavium Ancient City

Tavium Ancient City is situated in Büyüknefes Village, approximately 40 kilometers to the west of Yozgat city center. The city served as the main settlement for the Galatian tribe of Trocmi, one of three Celtic tribes that migrated to the region in the 3rd century BC.

Tavium Ancient City

Tavium was a crucial intersection on trade routes and a stopover for caravans. It has been occupied by several civilizations including Hittites, Cimmerians, Persians, Celts, Greeks, Romans, and Seljuk Turks. During the Roman period, it was a significant stopping point on the caravan route that connected Europe with Asia Minor.

Metalworking was a well-known activity in Tavium, evidenced by the discovery of coins from the early 1st century bearing the portraits of Marcus Aurelius and Elagabalus. The mountains near the city were rich in copper, tin, iron, and silver, which were mined and then smelted and stamped in one or two stone huts.

The city was prosperous, and the bronze statue of Zeus was highly revered by the Galatians. Recent studies have uncovered numerous artifacts including ceramics, column bases and drums, grave stelae, and inscribed tombs from the Byzantine era. Traces of settlement from the Chalcolithic Age to the Islamic period have also been uncovered. Tavium Ancient City remains an important archaeological site in Turkey.