Information about Ankara, Turkey

We organize Ankara packages and tours starting from Ankara to the Hittite city of Hattusas, Beypazari, Gordion and to Cappadocia. Click here to find out more.

Ankara is the capital of Turkey. It is a modern planned city with a population of over 3 million. Ankara is a city of wide boulevards, ministries, embassies, universities and medical centers. There is a large park with an artificial lake. Ankara was once called "Angora" and is famous for the soft wool "tiftik" of the Angora goat. Because Ankara seems so modern, few people realize that there is also an old Ankara with a hilltop citadel encircled by Byzantine walls and strewn with Roman foundations. The old bazaar district is also quite colorful. There are atmospheric restaurants, which are housed in old Ottoman houses and a couple of fine antique. The highlight of a visit to Ankara will most likely be the impressive museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which is located in an old covered market built in 1471 by the Grand Vizier Mahmut Pasa and an Ottoman warehouse building, which adjoins it. The exhibits of the museum include items from a house in Catal Hoyuk (located near Konya), which is the earliest known human community. There are lively Hittite figures, clay "Mother Goddesses", bronze staffs and more. No visit to Ankara would be complete without a visit to the "Anitkabir" or Ataturk Mausoleum, a tribute to the great founder of the Turkish Republic.