Ankara Turkey 2024 (The Best Guide)

Ankara Turkey is the capital of Turkey and the second most populous city in the country after Istanbul. It is a dynamic metropolis located on the hills of Central Anatolia.

Ankara Turkey is the heart of the Turkish Republic, a city with a strong personality and an exciting synthesis of East and West. This is a valid symbol of modern Turkey, where a new era has begun for the Turkish people.

Ankara Turkey is an important administrative center and university city filled with civil servants, clerical workers, diplomats, and students. Tourists often use Turkey’s capital as a transit point to Konya or Cappadocia. Of course, Ankara lags behind other cities in Turkey in terms of the number of attractions and cultural monuments. But it has much to offer the tourist: excellent restaurants and cafes, many museums and galleries, modern architecture, and a vibrant nightlife.

History of Ankara Turkey

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ankara Turkey was a small town with a population of several thousand living around the castle of the same name. After the First World War, Mustafa Kemal and his followers, whom we would later call Ataturk, turned the city into the center of the struggle for independence against the occupation. In 1923, Ankara became the capital of the Turkish Republic with the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

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This doesn’t mean that Ankara doesn’t have a rich history. Hittites, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Galatians, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks left their traces here. Therefore, Ankara can proudly be one of the oldest cities in Asia Minor.

Places to Visit in Ankara

Check out the places to visit in Ankara:

• Ulus: This is the oldest part of Ankara, located around the castle of the same name. This is an area of traditional historic buildings blended with the architecture of the first half of the 20th century.
• Anitkabir: This place is the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first President of Turkey.
• Ankara Castle: It dominates the high hill above the Ulus region. This fortification was founded by the Byzantines in the 7th century and was later used by the Seljuk Turks and the Ottomans.
• Temple of Augustus: Ankara was an important city during the Roman Empire, and its ancient history can be seen in the beautiful Roman ruins near Ulus Square. Here you can walk directly along the Roman road to the Julian Column, dedicated to the Roman emperor’s visit to the city.
• Hamamonu: A restored area with wooden houses in the traditional Ottoman style and one of the fascinating places in Ankara. It is a maze of narrow streets, old houses, and historic buildings, most of which are restaurants, cafes, or souvenir shops. There are also four ancient mosques here.