Kütahya, city in western Turkey, the capital of Kütahya province, about 300 km (about 200 mi) west of the Turkish capital of Ankara. Renowned since ancient times for its kiln products, it is now an important center for Turkey's tile and pottery industry. Kütahya is particularly famed for glazed multicolored pottery, an ancient style revived in the early 20th century. The city is linked by rail with Balikesir to the west and Konya to the southeast. Kütahya Museum (founded in 1965) has a collection of archaeological finds as well as arts and cultural artifacts from Kütahya and the surrounding area. The city is home to Dumlupinar University (1992). Aesop, the ancient Greek writer of fables, is believed to have been born in Kütahya.
Kütahya was originally settled in the 3rd millennium BC. In ancient times it was known as Kotiaion or Cotyaeum, meaning “the city of Kotys,” a goddess of ancient Thrace. Kütahya was an important settlement of Phrygia, a country that covered much of present-day Turkey between the 12th and 7th centuries BC. The city later came under Roman rule, and then became part of the Byzantine Empire. The Seljuks, a Turkish dynasty that controlled much of what is now Iran, captured the city around AD 1080. In 1429 Kütahya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. Population (1990) 130,944.
