Simav was historically called
Synaus or
Synaos (), also spelled
Synnaus or
Synnaos (Σύνναος). In ancient times, it was the main town in
Abbaitis, a district in
Mysia, and a city in the
Roman province of
Phrygia Pacatiana. It was also listed as one of the cities in the 6th-century
Synekdemos of
Hierocles. In the early 20th century, Sophrone Pétridès placed it in Phrygia Pacatiana Prima, whose capital and metropolitan see was
Laodicea on the Lycus. Little is known of the early history of this city, which
Ptolemy locates in Great Phrygia, and 6th-century
Hierocles, in Phrygia Pacatiana, whose capital was Laodicea. It has a few inscriptions but no ruins. According to Pétridès, in 1394 the see of Synaus was united to that of
Philadelphia (Roman province of
Lydia); in the 7th century it was a
suffragan of Laodicea on the Lycus (in Phrygia Pacatiana Prima); it seems also that at this time it was united to the see of
Ancyra Ferrea (in Phrygia Pacatiana Secunda). In the 9th century it was attached to the metropolis of
Hierapolis (capital of Phrygia Pacatiana Secunda) and remained so till its disappearance, as appears from the Greek
Notitiae episcopatuum. Synaos was historically the seat of a Christian bishop, which was subordinate to
Laodikeia until sometime around the 9th century, when it was transferred to
Hierapolis. A document from 1394 says that the diocese of Synaos was transferred from Hierapolis to the
Exarchate of
Philadelphia. The diocese of Synaos was almost always mentioned along with neighboring
Ankyra, indicating that the two were closely connected. The Tapu
Defter #438, from the reign of
Süleyman the Magnificent, listed Simav as a
kazâ in the
Sanjak of Kütahya. In 2017, an old abandoned tea garden on the site was renovated and turned into a restaurant. The first school to open in Simav in republican Turkey was the Osmanbey Ilkokulu, which opened in 1926. It is now used as a museum. On 19 May 2011, Simav was hit by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake. 2 people died, around 100 were injured, and about 2,000 households were either severely damaged or collapsed altogether.
Bishops Le Quien mentions the following bishops: • Arabius, represented by his metropolitan at Chalcedon (451); • Pronimus, at Constantinople (553); • Stephanus, at Nicæa (787); • Constantine at Constantinople (869); • Sisinnius and Eusebius, supporters respectively of
St. Ignatius and
Photius, at the
Council of Constantinople (879-880); • Isaac, at the Council of Constantinople (1351), which approved the doctrines of
Palamas. To these may be added Stephanus, whose name occurs in the inscription (8th century?) "Corp. inser. græc.", 8666 perhaps the Stephanus mentioned in 787. ==Climate==