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Ankara

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Ankara
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Ankara Travel Guide

  • About Ankara
Turkey’s capital may be best known as a modern financial centre, but beyond the looming skyscrapers you’ll find domed mosques, buzzing street life and the country’s best museum, along with important monuments and a citadel district chock-a-block with creaky Ottoman charm.Ankara’s chunky walled fortress overlooks the downtown district of Ulus, and the steep walk uphill is rewarded by a stop off at the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, which has wonderful exhibits tracing the entire history of this ancient land. Beyond the ramparts, a labyrinth of cobblestone lanes lined with antique stores and old-fashioned market shops weave down the hillside and are perfect for afternoon meanders and souvenir shopping amidst a sense of old world ambience.Downtown Ulus has a slightly downtrodden feel but is home to a clutch of sights that nod to Ankara’s Roman roots, as well as some interesting small museums and art galleries. Hop south to Kızılay and you’re transported into a thoroughly cosmopolitan and modern cafe district buzzing with vibrant, youthful energy, where students sip cappuccinos and promenade on the pedestrianised streets. Another hop south from here brings you to upmarket Kavaklıdere, Ankara’s embassy district, which has leafy parks and plenty of shopping and restaurant choices.Standing on a hill just to the west of the central city is the sprawling Anıtkabir complex, the mausoleum of Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey. Ankara’s most important monument, it’s a fitting tribute to the man who created Ankara as a capital and rebuilt the entire nation after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
  • Ankara History
Phrygian mythmakers will have you believe that gold-loving King Midas founded Ancyra (now Ankara). In reality, its history stretches back the Bronze Age, with early settlements providing a foundation for what would become the capital of modern day Turkey.Alexander the Great conquered the city in 333BC but following his death a decade later, the city was bequeathed to Antigonid dynasty, led by Antigonus the One-Eyed.That triggered a period in which Ankara was transferred from hand to hand, with Galatians, Romans, Byzantines and Seljuks all adding to its development. Nevertheless, with the seat of power firmly entrenched in Istanbul, Ankara never really grew beyond being a rather insignificant provincial city.It found a place in the history books in 1402 when Timur, another Turkic ruler, defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Ankara. But by the following year, the city had been recaptured by the Sultans, and it lapsed back into relative obscurity.Things changed after WWI, when the defeat of the Ottoman Army in 1919 led to the Allied Forces taking control of Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President of Turkey, chose Ankara as command centre of the nationalist resistance.Four years later, the Turkish Grand National Assembly voted to move the capital to Ankara indefinitely. Soon the city started to grow and in 1929 the Turkish Government ran a competition for an international architect to develop their capital.It was won by German, Hermann Jansen, whose plans only made provisions for the middle- and upper-classes. The poor went on to build gecekondular (shanty houses) around the city edges.Jansen’s plans, though, were never fully completed and he asked for his name to be removed from the project in 1938.The city then grew organically, with new districts such as Yenişehir and Kızılay built atop Jansen’s streets in the place of the Ottoman-era buildings that once dominated.Today, modern Ankara is a beguiling blend of contemporary and ancient and, although not quite as big as Istanbul, is the second most populous city in Turkey.
  • Did you know?
Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash, was born in Ankara. The Roman Baths of Ankara were still in use up until the 8th century when they were largely destroyed by a fire. Kocatepe Mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world. It can hold up to 24,000 people.
  • Weather in Ankara
At an elevation of 900m (3,000ft), Ankara experiences significant seasonal temperature variations.Winters are characteristically cold and crisp with summers often sweltering. Temperatures can drop well below zero in January (though 3ºC is the norm) while July and August can see temperatures soar to well over 30ºC (86ºF).Ramadan, the Muslim fast, is an important consideration for visitors keen to trawl Ankara’s many great pavement bars and cafés. Though some establishments stay open, public consumption is discouraged and many prefer to close for this period.

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