Dinar

Dinar lies near the ruins of Celaenae-Apamea in western Anatolia, where springs at the headwaters of the Büyük Menderes rise below upland ridges. The springs feed the Maeander, create marshy ground and support fields, orchards and gardens. Routes through the valley connect the Anatolian interior with the Aegean lowlands, making the area a crossroads of trade and armies.

Classical mythology remembered Celaenae as the setting of the contest between Apollo and Marsyas. The ancient city later bore the name Apamea, and its remains lie around present-day Dinar. In the era of the Anatolian beyliks, the settlement came under the Sahipata and then Germiyan dynasties. Ottoman records used the name Geyikler for the locality, while forms resembling Dinar also circulated in speech.