Aslantaş and Yilantaş in Phrygia

 

     
 

 

Aslantaş  
   

Aslantaş (also Arslantaş (Lion's stone) and Yılantaş (Snake stone) are two Phrygian rock chamber graves in the Phrygian valley.

 
   

 

Arslantaş, the lion's stone

 
   

Aslantaş was discovered in 1882 by Scottish archaeologist William Mitchell Ramsay. It's hewn into a boulder ten meters high. Halfway up is the burial chamber, guarded on both sides by two standing lion figures. At about the height of the chamber there are two further, smaller, lying lion figures, which are difficult to recognize because of their poor condition.

 
   
 
   

 
Yılantaş, the snake stone  
   

A few hundred meters from Aslantaş - around a curve - lies Yılantaş, a collapsed specimen of the same kind. The name comes from the fact that the local farmers considered the fallen lion paws as snake representations.

 
   
 
   

 

The Yılantaş in January

 
   
 
Aslantaş and Yilantaş from a distance    
     
     
Photos: @chim, Monika P.    
Translation aid: www.DeepL.com/Translator    
Source: Wikipedia and others