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Tavium, orTavia (Ancient Greek:Τάουιον,romanized: Taouion;Latin:Taouion or Tavium), was the chief city of theGalatian tribe ofTrocmi, one of the threeCeltic tribes which migrated from theDanube Valley to Galatia in present-day centralTurkey in the 3rd century BCE. Owing to its position on the high roads of commerce, Tavium was an important trading post. The site was successively occupied byHittites,Cimmerians,Persians, Celts,Greeks, Romans,Seljuk Turks andOttoman Turks. At the time of theRoman Empire, Tavium was an important crossroads and a stopping place on the caravan routes.
One of the few things known about Tavium is that there was metalworking; this is known from coins minted there in the early 1st century that bear the likenesses ofMarcus Aurelius andElagabalus. Copper, tin, iron and silver were mined in the nearby mountains. Similar to other Celtic towns of the time, the smelting and stamping was done by a small group of artisans working in one or two stone huts. In the city there was a colossalbronze statue ofZeus,[1] who was greatly venerated by the Galatians.
The site of Tavium is generally believed to be ruins situated close to the village ofBüyüknefes (previously known as Nefezköy), in a fertile plain east of theKızılırmak river (ancient Halys) inYozgat Province. Materials from these ruins were used in building the neighbouring town ofYozgat, which also features the remains of a theatre and, possibly, a temple ofJupiter; these have a number of inscriptions, mostlyByzantine.
Archaeological surveys have been conducted at the site by Karl Strobel and Christoph Gerber since 1997.[2]
In theNotitiæ Episcopatuum the bishopric of Tavium is mentioned up to the 13th century as the firstsuffragan ofAncyra. The names of five bishops of the area are known: Dicasius, present at the Councils ofNeocæsarea andNice; Julian, at thesecond Council of Ephesus (449), and at theCouncil of Chalcedon (451), and a signer of the letter from the Galatian bishops to the Emperor Leo (458); Anastasius, present at thesecond Council of Constantinople (553); Gregory at the Council in Trullo (692); Philaretus atConstantinople (869).
As of the early 20th century, Büyüknefes was inhabited during the winter by nomadic Turkish tribes. It was then in the kaza (district) ofSungurlu and thevilayet of Ankara. Now it is a part of Yozgat Province.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Tavium".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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39°51′33″N34°30′23″E / 39.859132°N 34.506459°E /39.859132; 34.506459