ITINERARY

• Ankara is the capital of the modern Turkish Republic. In the course of ten millennia of habitation, the denizens of the area have reflected in their art - from the vigorous paintings of Catalhoyuk to the confident lines of Seljuk architecture, to more recently, the impressive modern form of Ataturk's Mausoleum - the dramatic contours of the surrounding landscape. The seat of Turkey's government in the strategic heart of central Anatolia, Ankara is the city selected by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the republic's founder, to house the capital of the newly politically defined country. Though thoroughly modern in appearance Ankara's history and that of the surrounding area dates back to the Bronze Age and the Hatti civilization. In the second millennium B.C. the Hittites followed as lords of the land and were succeeded in turn by the Phrygians, Lydians and Persians. In the third century B.C., the Galatians, a Celtic race, made Ankara their capital. It was then known as Ancyra, meaning anchor.
• Very few places in the world could provide you with a chronology of the sweeping progress of mankind. One of them is the Museum of Anatolian Civilization in Ankara. This ex-Museum of the year, arranged as a chronological spiral, takes you back 900 miles of years. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations boasts with its priceless collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian and Roman artefacts. Anatolian Museum, one of the most remarkable museums in the world, considered to be. The building is housed in two renovated structures of the Ottoman era: one is a caravanserai 600 years old, the Kurşunlu caravanserai, while the second is the Mahmut Paşa Bedesten (a covered bazaar and strong structure designed to protect precious trade commodities). The best way to be astonished is to visit the museum with the glories and richnesses of the long history of Anatolia that goes back to the 7th millennium BC.
• The Citadel of Ankara bears the marks of all civilizations that played their part in the past of the city. It is founded on the highest hill in the middle of Ankara plains and used by everyone who reigned in this region in Ankara. It has a presence in Ankara Cityscape. The inscriptions on its walls make his history evident. In the citadel, we shall visit Ankara houses of the 17th century, and the Alaaddin Mosque is still open to worship, the oldest religious building in Ankara. From the city walls, the panoramic view over Ankara is as amazing as it was for the turrets of yesteryear.
• Each year, on the 10th November, a huge influx of visitors comes to Anitkabir (The Mausoleum of Ataturk), the first place many of us think of, particularly on Ankara. Between 1944 and 1953 in Anittepe, the eternal rest of the Turkish founder, Ataturk, was constructed. The complex covers an area of 750 000 square metres and has the characteristics of the second national architectural period. Ankara's main monument is without a doubt Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey's eternal resting place. This mausoleum is a magnificent neoclassical building, designed properly on a large esplanade and with dark lines. The entrance of the mausoleum is made through a triumphant alley lined with granite slabs, known in Turkish as Anıtkabir. The greatness of the founder of modern Turkey is fittingly monumental. The museum hosts Atatürk's wax statue, texts, letters and articles, and a photo exhibition recording important moments in his life and in the establishment of the Republic.
• The Ankara Ethnography Museum is dedicated to Turkish cultures. It was constructed between 1925 and 1928 by the architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu. During the period of construction of Anıtkabir, the museum hosted the sarcophagus of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from 1938 to 1953. This museum houses a rich collection of folkloric artefacts as well.
• The Roman Baths of Ankara are the ruined remains of an ancient Roman bath complex in Ankara, Turkey, which were uncovered by excavations carried out in 1937-1944, and have subsequently been opened to the public as an open-air museum. The baths were constructed with three main divisions: a frigidarium (cold section), tepidarium (cool section) and caldarium (hot section). They were built during the time of Emperor Caracalla (3rd century AD) in honour of Asclepios, the god of medicine. Today only the basement and first floors remain.