Welcome to Ankara in parallel with the history of humanity
The first primate residues in Anatolia were found in Ankara and these findings dating back 10 million years were called Ankarapithecus meteai.
The first settlement in Ankara, which has been called Ankuwash, Ancyra, Angora and Engürü throughout the history, was around the Ankara castle.
The region’s history dates back to the Bronze Age Hatti Civilizations, which was succeeded in the 2nd millenium BC by the Hittites, in the 10th century BC by the Phrygians, then by the Lydians, Persians and Macedonian King Alexander the Great. After these Ankara was occupied by Galatians, who were the first to make Ankara their Capital known as Ancyra ( meaning anchor ). Ankara’s written history starts with Galatians.
The city subsequently fell to the Romans and Byzantines. During Galatians and Romans , it remained as a strategic position between east and west. It was an important cultural, trading and arts center.
The Seljuk Turks opened up Anatolia for Turkish rule in 1071 and took control of Ankara in 1073. The city was connected to the Ottoman Empire in 1354 and remained under the Ottoman control until the First World War. Ankara was the center of the Anatolian province during the magnificent Süleyman period, was enriched with the famous Angora goat mohair, ‘ sof fabric ‘ made from this mohair, leather making, shoemaking, vineyards and grain-growing. It was an important trading center on the caravan route to the east in Ottoman Times.
It had declined in importance by the 19th century. It again became an important center during War of Liberation and was declared as the capital of Republic of Turkey. And developed rapidly again.
You are in Ankara which has been home to many cultures for thousands of years with its strategic location. You can see the traces of our thousands of years of history in The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, the Temple of Augustus, the Open Air Museum of the Roman Baths, Seljuk and Ottoman monuments.