The final stop on my walking tour of Turkish Ankara was the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. As the name suggests, this exhibition space is dedicated to the history of the peoples of Anatolia, the Asian part of Turkey. The museum's exposition covers many time periods, from the Paleolithic era to the present day.
How to Get There by Metro
The museum is located a 20-minute walk from Ulus metro station. If you are coming to Ankara from another Turkish city, keep in mind that Ankara's metro has its own transportation card, and you will need to purchase it at the terminal for your journey. I wasn't able to do this myself, as the ticket vending machine did not accept bank cards, and I only had 100 lira banknotes, which were also not suitable for paying the fare. In the end, local residents helped me enter the station.
The entrance fee to the museum in May 2023 was 150 lira.
A Bit of History
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara was founded in 1921, with the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Initially, the museum complex included one of the bastions of Ankara Castle, the Temple of Augustus, and the ruins of the Roman Baths.
A decision was made a dozen years later to allocate separate exhibition buildings for the museum. For this purpose, the abandoned buildings of the bazaar and hotel, left after the fire of 1881, were allocated. The buildings are located very close to the city fortress. Restoration work took 30 years, although the exhibition was opened to visitors long before their completion. This happened in 1943.
The entire museum exhibition is divided into several parts, each of which describes the history of a specific time period. For example, there are sections such as "The Paleolithic Era," "The Ancient Hittite Period," and "The Phrygian Kingdom." To continue learning about the history of these lands, you can explore the outdoor exhibition, which features examples of sculpture and tombstones. Overall, the museum space cannot be called large: if you don't delve into the study of each exhibit, a walk through the exhibition halls can take about an hour.
At the end of the last century, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was awarded the title of European Museum of the Year. The competition took place in Switzerland, with 68 exhibition spaces participating.
With this, I conclude a small series of stories about my trip to Ankara, but in the future, I will definitely tell you about the attractions of other Turkish cities. For now, I suggest exploring my selection of interesting places in the beautiful ancient Istanbul.
Have a nice trip!
