Ankara Castle

About this place

Look closely at the walls of Ankara Castle and you will find Roman column drums, gravestones and Greek-lettered blocks laid sideways like bricks. That is not carelessness; it is the city's whole biography in one wall. The hilltop was fortified before the Galatians settled on it, the Romans repaired it, the Byzantines rebuilt the inner citadel in the seventh century from the rubble of the ancient town below, and the Seljuks and Ottomans added their own layers on top. At the foot of the hill the mosque and tomb of Hacı Bayram Veli stand hard against the Roman Temple of Augustus, two thousand years in a few hundred metres. What you get today is not a ruin but a living neighbourhood inside the ramparts: cobbled alleys, Ottoman timber houses with jutting bays (many restored in recent years), cafes in old mansions, and shops selling copper, carpets and antiques at prices that assume you will haggle. You enter through Hisar Kapı on the south wall, the lanes climb towards the inner castle, and a flight of steps takes you up to the Şark Kulesi (East Tower) and the Ak Kale, the highest point. From there Ankara turns around you in a full circle: the dome of Hacı Bayram, Kocatepe Mosque, Anıtkabir on its own hill, the modern city rolling to the horizon. The view, not the stonework, is the reason to come. Entry is free and there is no ticket. The lanes and the ramparts are normally open at all hours, though the gate on the stairs up to the inner castle is sometimes locked during restoration or after dark. Come in the morning or an hour before sunset; the alleys are safer and livelier in daylight and the stone glows in late light. The climb up from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is steep and cobbled, and the final stairs to the ramparts have thin railings, so it is a thrill for children over six and a non-starter for pushchairs or anyone who finds walking hard. In winter the cobbles ice over under the snow. Allow an hour for the walls and another for a cafe in an old house, then walk down to the outer gate where the Rahmi Koç Museum occupies the old Çengelhan caravanserai next to the Erimtan Archaeology Museum, with the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations minutes away. Together they make half a day of the best Ankara has. Restoration on the walls and lanes never quite stops, so expect scaffolding somewhere.