Ankara first achieved prominance as a crossroad of civilizations. Akuwash, the Hittite name for the city, was established over 3000 years ago at the intersection of 2 trade routes. The Phrygians moved in after the decline of the Hittite empire and then Alexander the Great arrived in captured the city. Subsequently occupied by the Seleucids and the Galatians, Ankara became part of the Roman Empire in 25 BC.The Byzantines hung on to the city until 1071 AD when the Seljuk Turks rolled into town (renaming it Enguriye). The city's importance declined throughout the Ottoman period since Angora became a place for only farming and animal husbandry.

TBMM (Parliament) Building

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of the Turkish Republic shook things up a little for Ankara. Ataturk founded his provisional government here in 1920 and the population increased from 30,000 to it's current figure of approximately 5 million. Ankara was designed to be a modern capital city. Major structures in Ankara are the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, Anıtkabir (Atatürk’s Tomb) and the TBMM (Parliament) Building. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations ; situated at the Ankara Castle entrance, it is an old "bedesten" (covered bazaar) that has been beautifully restored and now houses a unique collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, and Roman works and showpiece Lydian treasures. Anıtkabir’s importance is because of it’s being the tomb of the founder of the Turkisg Republic; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Visitors from all over Turkey come to Ankara for visiting Anıtkabir. Lastly, as Ankara is the capital city of Turkey, we have the TBMM (Parliament) Building in this city. This building is an architectural beauty and is worth seeing.

Anıtkabir

Ankara is one of the few countries in Turkey that has the motif of being the "melting pot of East and West". Please take a look at our tours “ A Universal Heritage ” , “ A Tale of Civilization ” , “ Following the Turkish Footsteps Over 1000 Years ” and “ Historical Turkey ” if you would like to visit Ankara, the magnificent capital city of Turkey.