Stand at the north end of İsmet Paşa Cd, where the Atatürk Heykeli marks the edge of the modern centre, and the street behind you tilts uphill into the Old Town. Within a few minutes' walk the shopfronts give way to neoclassical mansions and a small bazaar, and the call to prayer carries between historic mosques. For a city that most travellers pass through on the way to somewhere else, Uşak rewards a deliberate stop.
This guide suits anyone with a spare day in the city and an interest in the Lydians, Ottoman trade or the War of Independence. It also covers the sites further out, which need your own vehicle and dry weather.
What follows is arranged so you can plan a single day from the top, or spread the outlying sites across a longer stay.
Top things to do in Uşak
1. Archaeological Museum
On Orhan Dengiz Blv, just north of the railway station, this museum spreads over three floors. The lower floor runs from the Paleolithic to the Roman era and the intermediate floor covers trade in Ottoman Uşak, but the top floor is the reason to come: it describes the Lydians, the local pre-Roman kingdom, and displays the Lydian or Karun treasure.
The treasure's story is remarkable. In 1966 tomb robbers found the burial chamber of a Lydian princess, smuggled the goods abroad, and some reached New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art; the treasures were repatriated in 1993 after a long legal battle. In 2007 it emerged that some exhibits had been replaced by fakes, and the museum director was jailed. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00-17:00, with an adult ticket of 60 TL.
2. Old Town
The Old Town sits north of the Atatürk Heykeli. Nearby buildings are neoclassical mansions, mostly converted to shops, restaurants and hotels, alongside a small bazaar and historic mosques. Further north you reach simpler Ottoman houses.
Come here on foot after the monument, and treat the bazaar and the mosques as part of the same wander rather than separate stops.
3. Ulu Camii
At Mimar Sinan Cd 17, the Grand Mosque was built around 1419, late in the Germiyanid period. The inscription giving that date refers only to its courtyard fountain, but the mosque cannot have been without a water supply.
Pair it with the Old Town streets around it, and continue to Kırık Minare Mosque, 100 m northwest.
4. Kırık Minare Mosque
A stubby low building of 1826, this mosque stands 100 m northwest of Ulu Camii. It is a short addition to a walk through the Old Town rather than a destination on its own.
5. Atatürk Heykeli
This is the monument to the War of Independence at the north end of İsmet Paşa Cd. It makes a natural starting point: the Old Town lies north of it, and Bir Eylül Stadyumu is 200 m west.
6. Atatürk and Ethnography Museum
On Hisarkapı Uluyolu Sk 75, this is a merchant's house that served as Turkish military headquarters in 1920-22, when the battlefront with Greece was nearby, and where Atatürk received the surrender of General Nikolaos Trikoupis. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 08:30-17:30, but you will be lucky to find it open.
The Carpet Museum is 50 m south, so combine the two if you find the doors open.
7. Carpet Museum
At 1st Gülek Sk 1, 50 m south of the Ethnography Museum, this museum displays locally-made carpets. It is open daily, 09:15-17:00.
8. City History Museum
On Besni Cd, this museum covers city history into modern times. It is free, and open Tuesday to Sunday, 08:30-17:00.
9. Ulubey Canyon
About 32 km south of Uşak and 1 km east of Ulubey village, the canyon has been carved by creeks flowing towards the Büyük Menderes River. The system runs about 45 km long and 150 m deep, with dozens of side-canyons. The site is free at all hours, but you pay to access the glass-floored balcony and for add-ons such as the Upside-Down House.
This is one of the outlying sites best done with your own vehicle, in dry weather.
10. Blaundus
About 44 km southwest of Uşak, this is the sparse remains of an ancient Greek settlement conquered by Alexander the Great, whom the locals honoured by minting coins inscribed Blaundeon Makedonon. Excavations continue. What makes the site remarkable is its setting: a "peninsula" almost cut off by a loop of canyon, a tributary of Ulubey Canyon to the northeast. You enter through a gate and a scrap of wall across the neck of the peninsula.
It is open daily 09:00-17:00 and free. From Ulubey, head west towards Inay and Eşme, soon branching south, and follow the brown signs onto the dirt road.
11. Cılandras Bridge
About 38 km south of Uşak, this was an aqueduct built by the Phrygians around 500 BC to supply the town of Pepuza. It is a single 24 m arch across the ravine of the Banaz creek, and you can walk over it, though there is no onward path. The adjacent waterfall is artificial, the discharge sluice of a hydroelectric power plant. The site is free at all hours and a popular picnic area.
Pepuza, 2 km west, can be reached by a rough trail unsuitable for cars, and there is not much to see. From the 2nd century AD it was the centre of Montanism, a Christian sect who believed the Messiah would descend upon a nearby mountain.
12. Sebaste
About 34 km southeast of Uşak, on D595 near Selçikler, these are the scrappy ruins of a Roman settlement named in honour of Emperor Augustus. It is reachable by public transport, but allow a full day.
13. Çataltepe Bridge
About 50 km west of Uşak on D300, this is a three-arched humpback bridge from the Seljuk period. It is also reachable by public transport, though it will take all day.
14. Taşyaran Valley
Reached by the side lane branching off 500 m east of Çataltepe Bridge, this is a dramatic ravine with its rockface sculpted into waves. Follow the lane for 2 km through the tiny village of Çaykenarı; it loops to the other end of the bridge. Steep stairways descend to the stream, with numerous intermediate viewpoints, and a road marked piknik alanları leads to a wooden observation tower on the highest point of the site.
Taşyaran means "rock-chopper", so think what it might do to your tyres. You need dry weather, as the dirt roads can be slithery.
15. Uşakspor at Bir Eylül Stadyumu
Uşakspor play soccer away down in the amateur leagues, and their home ground is Bir Eylül Stadyumu, 200 m west of the Atatürk monument. If a fixture falls during your stay, it is an easy addition to a day in the centre.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start at the Atatürk Heykeli at the north end of İsmet Paşa Cd, then walk north into the Old Town for the neoclassical mansions, the small bazaar and the historic mosques. Continue to Ulu Camii on Mimar Sinan Cd and Kırık Minare Mosque, 100 m northwest.
Afternoon: Head to the Archaeological Museum on Orhan Dengiz Blv, just north of the railway station, and give the top floor with the Lydian material the time it deserves. If the doors are open, add the Atatürk and Ethnography Museum on Hisarkapı Uluyolu Sk and the Carpet Museum 50 m south, then the free City History Museum on Besni Cd.
Evening: Return to the Old Town, where the converted mansions now hold shops, restaurants and hotels, and eat there before walking back down to the monument.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Archaeological Museum open?
Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00-17:00. The adult ticket is 60 TL.
Can I see the outlying sites without a car?
You can reach Sebaste, Ulubey or Çataltepe and Taşyaran Valley by public transport, but it will take all day. With your own vehicle, all the outlying sites can be seen in a day, probably in the order listed above.
What should I watch out for on the outlying routes?
You need dry weather, as the dirt roads can be slithery. At Taşyaran Valley, the name means "rock-chopper", so think what it might do to your tyres.
Which sites are free?
The City History Museum is free, as are Cılandras Bridge, Ulubey Canyon and Blaundus. At Ulubey Canyon you pay only for the glass-floored balcony and the add-ons.
Use the list above to set your priorities, check the opening days before you travel, and start planning your time in Uşak.