Uşak

Uşak is a mid-sized city in Turkey's Inner West Anatolia, where the Aegean region meets the Central Anatolian plateau. Known locally as the "City of Firsts", it combines a working textile and leather economy with ancient Lydian heritage and striking canyon landscapes on its outskirts.

The city's history reaches back through Phrygian and Lydian times to the ancient settlement known as Temenothytia. Its most celebrated artefacts, the Karun Treasure (Lydian Hoard), are displayed in the Uşak Archaeology Museum, while the restored historic Uşak houses and the Atatürk and Ethnography Museum show the Ottoman and early Republican layers of the city.

Uşak became a major centre of Ottoman carpet weaving, and its soft-palette Uşak carpets remain an international reference. The carpet and kilim tradition is visible in the city's carpet houses and craft ateliers, while central streets, the Ulu Cami and the old bazaar give the centre a compact, walkable character.

Beyond the centre, Ulubey Canyon offers one of Turkey's longest canyon systems with a glass viewing terrace, and nearby Taşyaran Valley, the Hellenistic-Roman ruins of Blaundos and the 2,500-year-old Clandras Bridge draw nature and history visitors. Murat Dağı and the Gediz River basin shape the surrounding highland landscape.

The city also matters for business travel through its textile, leather and sugar industries, anchored historically by Turkey's first electricity use in 1909 and first sugar factory in 1926, and today by Uşak University and trade fairs. Uşak Airport (USQ) links the city to domestic destinations, making it a practical base for both industrial visits and regional sightseeing.