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Pessinus was the city in Asia Minor (presently Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey) on the upper course of the river Sangarios (modern day Sakarya River), 120 km SW of Ankara, from which the mythological King Midas is said to have ruled a greater Phrygian realm. It certainly dated back to 700BC. It was a major, hellenized city in the region of Galatia since the fourth century BC. The Seleucids lost it to Attalid Pergamon, which became part of the Roman Empire where it is was assigned to the provincia Galatia (later part of Pontus diocese).

Its greatest pride was the greatest temple of the Mother Goddess Cybele, said to be founded by Midas, which gave it prestige and even temporary political autonomy, but in 205BC a Roman Senate delegation got the aniconic statue transferred to Rome, introducing the Magna Mater cult there to help fight Carthage's Hannibal. The statue was first placed in the Temple of Victory on the Palatine Hill, but in 191BC a new sanctuary was built for her on the summit of the hill, one of the most sacred places in Rome.

It is known to be reached by Christianity in the fifth century AD. After the Byzantines lost it to the Seljuk Turks, it became an inconspicuous mountain village at 900m height, gradually getting depopulated since it was fully protected, no modern construction allowed. The last constructions from Antiquity were pulled down in the 19th century, but archeologists from the Ghent University are digging there since 1967.

The Kybele Archaeological Culture Center, located in Ballihisar Village of Eskişehir's Sivrihisar district, has on display artifacts dating to the Phrygian and Roman eras from the ancient city of Pessinus.

• Westermann Grosser Atlas zur Weltgeschichte
• De Standaard (Flemish newspaper, Dutch language) August 9, 2005
• Pauly-Wissowa

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