You are here: Home › Destinations › Europe › Turkey › Ankara
Ankara
About Ankara
Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is the important commercial and industrial capital of Turkey. Ankara can be divided into an old section, called Ulus, and a new section, called Yenişehir. Ancient buildings reflecting Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman history and narrow winding streets mark the old section. The new section, now centered around Kızılay, has a modern look and feel with wide streets, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, and high-rises.
Local highlights
- Anıtkabir - mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey
- Museum of Anatolian Civilizations which houses artifacts from the
Hittites, Urartians, Assyrian Colonies, Phrygians, Greeks and Romans. - Ankara Citadel: The foundations of the citadel were laid by the Galatians.The area around and inside the citadel, being the oldest part of Ankara, contains many fine examples of traditional architecture.
- Roman Theatre
- Temple of Augustus: It was built by the Galatian King Pylamenes in AD 10 as a tribute and sign of fidelity to Augustus. In the fifth century the temple was converted into a church by the Byzantines.
- Roman Bath with a frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (cool room) and caldarium (hot room). The bath was built in the reign of Emperor Caracalla in 3rd century AD to honour the Asclepios, the God of Medicine.
- Column of Julian: This column, in Ulus, was erected in AD 362, to commemorate a visit by the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. It stands fifteen meters high and has a typical leaf decoration on the capital.
Highlights in the vicinity
- Safranbolu with the old Ottoman town centre. The scenery of the area is nice with mountains, forests and rivers. The lack of development makes it a fairly laid back place to be, but at the same time not the easiest area of Turkey to travel.
Good to know
- No. of inhabitants: 5 Million
- Timezone: UTC +2
Local transport
EGO (Elektrik Gaz Otobüs) operates the public transportation.
- Dolmus –much cheaper than taxi, fares are determined by municipalities (a station wagon that travel e certain route;wait until the dolmus is full;get in and out whenever and wherever you want)
- Taxi cabs are metered
- Trams
- Bus
- Subway
Inbound transport
- Airport: Esenboga International Airport, located some 28 km northeast of the city, is the main airport of Ankara.
Travel tips
Ataturk's mausoleum
Ankara is not the most exciting place for travelers to be. But a visit to the mausoleum of the founder of modern Turkey is not to be missed.
The walk up the hill, past the guard is impressive, as is the large square where several small museums can be visited celebrating the works of Atatürk. The tomb itself is in line with the rest of the complex, grand and a little over the top.
Posted on 24-12-2006 by estetika
Add a Travel tip
Did you visit this Destination?
And become one of the EnjoyYourWorld Photographers
And show travellers YOUR BEST PICTURES OF THE WORLD. Everyone has a different view on this world and that makes your pictures so special, so don’t wait any longer and send us your pictures right now!! And become one of our EnjoyYourWorld photographers.