On our first day in Ankara, we went to, perhaps, the main attraction of Ankara, to the Anitkabir complex, which means the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. This complex was built as a tribute and honor to the first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Atatürk "the father of the Turks" he was nicknamed by the people, for his huge contribution to the creation modern Turkey. But in fact, he did a lot for Turkey: he built schools in every city and village, changed the Arabic alphabet into Turkish into Latin, separated religion from state relations. He began to reform Turkish laws, adjusting them to modern international standards. During his reign, women received equal rights with men. During the 15 years of his reign, Turkey has practically reached Western standards of living and made a huge leap forward in its development. After the death of Ataturk, it was decided to build a complex. Construction went on for 9 years from 1944-1953.
This is what Mustafa Kemal Ataturk looked like. The wax figure is in the museum at the Anitkabir complex
Before entering the territory of the complex, we passed the security post, where large bags and backpacks are asked to be left for security purposes. The road passes through the territory of the park that surrounds the complex. 
We didn’t really want to walk in the heat, so we got on a bus that runs from the main entrance to the entrance to memorial Complex. The first thing we saw was the central alley, at the very beginning of which, on the right and left sides, there are two small buildings, the so-called Independence Tower and the Freedom Tower, although I would call them towers with a stretch.
Inside one of the towers there is an exposition of photographs of the chronicle of the construction of the Anitkabir complex, and in the other a small copy of the complex itself.
Inside these towers, the sayings of Atatürk are inscribed on the walls, and next to these towers are sculptures of men and women, which apparently personify the people of Turkey.
It is here that the most important action begins, the changing of the guard. From here, marching soldiers move along the alley of lions to the ceremonial square and change.
A crowd of people taking pictures and just onlookers accompanies them to the end. And next to the soldiers, security officers are constantly spinning, which we are fed up with in the end. It is impossible to photograph a soldier, one of these guys is always nearby. By the way, the alley of lions is 262 meters long, and it is named so because on both sides, along the entire alley, it is decorated with sculptures of 26 lions.
Alley of Lions ends huge area which can accommodate up to 15,000 people. It all looks really impressive. 
Along the perimeter of this square there are buildings in which are located: the Ataturk Museum with his personal belongings and the library, awards, gifts from statesmen of foreign states. There are gifts and awards from high-ranking officials of tsarist Russia and the USSR. Gifts are mainly presented in the form of weapons, pistols, skillfully inlaid daggers. The awards are also not inferior in their beauty and richness of decoration. Of course, it was they who made a great impression on us girls, because they were strewn precious stone, shine and shimmer 🙂
Unfortunately, you can not take pictures inside, this is strictly monitored by security staff. Moving on, we got into the halls with installations - panoramas of the war for independence. Only Ataturk's cars are allowed to be photographed, which we did.
Well, the most important building, the mausoleum of Ataturk, which crowns the entire composition of the square. A staircase of 46 steps leads to the mausoleum. Having overcome them, we got into the Hall of Honor with a very high ceiling, its height is 17 meters. In this hall there is a symbolic memorial plate, under which there is a room with the tomb of Ataturk.
And around this complex spread beautiful park, seedlings for which were brought from all regions of Turkey and different countries. Everything is very clean, neat and beautiful. 
I forgot to write about the flagpole. It has a height of 33.53 m and turns out to be the tallest solid flagpole in Europe. This flagpole was donated by a Turkish American back in 1946. 
And from the height of the complex open great views to Ankara.
There are a lot of visitors and interestingly, for the most part, these are the Turks themselves. They are really very proud of Ataturk and revere him. Every Turk thinks obligatory visit Anitkabir.
Most of all, what we remember and laugh. Turkish girls approached us several times and asked permission to take a picture with us. I don’t know why they needed it, but we felt like such exotic things :) :) :)
The complex has free toilet and not far from it there is a vending machine selling water, a bottle of 0.5 costs, in my opinion, 50 kurush. And after examining everything, we sat down to rest in the shade and drink water.
P.S. I forgot to write the most important thing, the entrance to the complex of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk mausoleum is free!
One of the many attractions of the Turkish capital is the Museum of Steam Locomotives, located under open sky in the Maltepe area. The museum is owned and operated by the Turkish State railways. The main building of the museum was erected in 1924 and has historical significance.
total area of this two-story stone structure is about 680 square meters. There are expositions dedicated to the history of the development of railway transport in Turkey. You will be able to see antique lanterns, parts of locomotives, plumbing fixtures, communications equipment, as well as original tickets, documents and bonds.
But the main exhibits of the Museum of Steam Locomotives are located right in front of the entrance to the building, in the open air. These are locomotives from Henschel & Son, Vulcan Iron Works, Schwartzkopf, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. Many of them have been restored several times, so they look like new.
Mosque of Kocatepe
The Kocatepe Mosque is the largest mosque and one of the main attractions of the Turkish capital. It is located in the area of the same name, a little south historical center cities. The construction of the Kocatepe Mosque began in 1967. Initially, her project provided for the construction of a modern building, but the city authorities reconsidered the decision, preferring a mosque in the classical style. The construction of the temple took place under the guidance of the architect Husrev Tayla and lasted 20 years.
The Kocatepe Mosque is crowned with a large dome and surrounded by four minarets, it is made in the style of classical Ottoman mosques. The height of its main dome is about 48.5 meters and its diameter is 26 meters. The height of the minarets decorated with gilded crescents is 88 meters. The total area of the building is 4288 square meters.
Inside, the Kocatepe Mosque is finished with marble, and is also decorated with gold plates, stained glass windows, decorative tiles and huge crystal chandeliers. In its center is a model of the Mescid-I Nebevi mosque, which was presented to Turkish President Suleiman Demirel in 1993 by the king Saudi Arabia Abdel Aziz.
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Mausoleum of Ataturk
If you are in Ankara, then you simply must visit one of the most majestic places in Turkey - the Mausoleum of Ataturk. The museum is worth your attention already thanks to its amazing historical panoramas accompanied by thematic music. Numerous exhibits telling about the life of the first president of Turkey (clothes, medals, portraits, cars, yachts) are supplemented by his personal library. History comes to life in the rooms where you will be invited to see documentaries with speeches of Ataturk before the people.
The body of the politician himself is located in the Hall of Honor, which is in the lower part of the mausoleum. The coffin is surrounded by copper vases with earth sent from all regions of the country and its possessions in Northern Cyprus.
All this (museum, mausoleum and park) is located on an area of 750 sq.m. It is curious: ten towers are symmetrically located on the territory of the mausoleum, symbolizing the ideas of the national leader, which favorably influenced the development of Turkey.
Among the mosques of the Turkish capital, Arslankhane is one of the most beautiful. It is rightfully considered one of the oldest places of Muslim worship in the city. Once upon a time, on the spot where Arslankhane rises, there was an ancient Roman temple.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the construction of a new mosque began. Builders used elements architectural structures Roman and Byzantine eras. This can be clearly seen in the supporting structures of the mosque. Its interior is beautifully decorated - you can see an elegant carved mimbar made of walnut wood, as well as a classic mihrab, the walls of which are covered with the finest enamel decor (which indicates Seljuk origin). All decorative elements clearly confirm that a few centuries ago the Arslankhane mosque was a magnificent sight.
Ankara Palace
Ankara Palace is a historical building, business card capitals of Turkey. Its construction began in 1924 and lasted four years. Initially, it was used as the building of the Ministry of Health, then as a hotel for members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The Ankara Palace was designed by the popular local architect Vedat Tek, and the construction work was led by engineer Mimar Kemaleddin.
The Ankara Palace is located in the Ulus quarter, opposite the historical building of the first Great National Assembly, now known as the Museum of the War of Independence. The building is a prominent representative of Turkish architecture. It is a symmetrical, two-storey building with pitched roofs, a magnificent dome and two twin towers. In 1983, a major reconstruction of the Ankara Palace was carried out; at present, it is a guest house for the city's elite. There are 60 lounges, a dining room and a huge banquet hall.
Yazilikai rock sanctuary
The Yazylikaya sanctuary consists of two rocky chambers, equipped according to all the rules of construction, typical for the Hittite period. The archaeologists who explored the sanctuary called these rooms the Great and Small Galleries. On the walls of the sanctuary are carved images of various figures, the number of which is about a hundred.
A bas-relief depicting male deities is carved in the wall located to the west of the large gallery, and female gods are carved on the opposite side. On the western wall, images of the main gods are carved: the gods of the mountains, the god of air Teshup with his wife, the goddess Khepati. On the eastern wall there is a plot dedicated to King Tuthalia IV, whose glorification began during his lifetime.
The bas-reliefs of the Little Gallery have survived to this day in excellent condition, the entrance to it is guarded by sphinxes. The gallery contains three niches carved into the rock, which most likely served as a place to store the property of the royal family, or to store urns with the ashes of the deceased relatives of the king.
Restaurant Haci Arif bey
Restaurant Haci Arif bey is located in the heart of Ankara, within walking distance from the Ankara Hilton Hotel. It is distinguished by a pleasant friendly atmosphere and the presence of a green courtyard. There is even a fish tank with live fish and an aviary with turtles, for guests with children there is a playground.
Guests are offered a menu of classic Turkish cuisine- delicious hummus, meze, vegetables, large portions of soups, shepherd's salad, a large selection of various kebabs of very high quality. The menu has photos of the dishes. There are no alcoholic drinks, but local drinks, including ayran, can be offered to the guest.
Very good, helpful and attentive service. Dinner at a restaurant will cost about 800 - 3000 rubles. If you want to try many dishes, then you can ask for a half portion. The restaurant makes reservations and deliveries.
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Ankara Central Railway Station
Ankara Central Station - Main Train Station Turkish capital, which serves about 180 trains a day. It was built in the early 1930s by the local architect Atatürk. Ankara Central Station is Turkey's main transportation hub, serving suburban and intercity locomotives, as well as high-speed trains. Under the station there is a metro station, and on the ground floor there is a museum, which exhibits samples of the development of railway transport in Turkey.
The infrastructure of the Ankara Central Station is developed at the highest level. There are cash desks, newsstands, ATMs, comfortable waiting rooms, bathrooms, as well as left-luggage offices and numerous restaurants. The station has 6 long platforms: four for trains long distance, and two - for suburban trains.
The three-story building of the station, made in the Art Deco style, deserves special attention. The glass façade of the building is supported by a series of massive columns, flanked by two ellipsoidal towers with huge stained-glass windows in the center. The exterior decoration of the building is dominated by sand tones.
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Individual and group
The Ethnographic Museum in Ankara was founded in November 1925 and a few years later moved to a new building built on Namazga Hill. On the site where the museum is located, there is a Muslim cemetery, part of which was transferred to the museum.
The exhibition presents numerous collections of items collected in different parts of Turkey, they tell in detail about the features of life and everyday life of the Turks. Among the exhibits are beautiful handmade carpets, elegant jewelry. Separate expositions clearly demonstrate folk traditions, the specifics of various crafts.
The ethnographic museum is one of the the most interesting museums Turkey. By visiting it, you will be one step closer to understanding the rich history, culture and traditions of this country.
Ataturk Museum
This building served as the residence of Mustafa Kemal during his lifetime, and then was transformed into a museum that tells about the life and work of Ataturk in the struggle for the formation of the Turkish state.
The building is made in neoclassical style. It consists of three floors and a basement, has a rectangular shape, and on the back facade there is a covered gallery.
This house was built in 1908. Mustafa Kemal rented him after returning from the front, and here he is for a long time lived with his mother and sister. After the death of Ataturk, this house was transferred to private management, and only in 1980 the Ministry of Culture of Turkey became its owner, after which the building was completely restored, and a museum exposition was opened in it.
Republican Museum
The Republican Museum is one of the many attractions of the Turkish capital. The building was designed by the famous architect Vedat Tek in 1923. It was originally used as the Republican Party Building and was later converted into the Assembly Building.
There are seven rooms on the first floor of the museum. One of them originally housed the Accounting Hall, which hosted the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Now there are photographs and light panels describing the events of those times. To the right of it is the hall where the Second Grand National Assembly of Turkey was held. Today, personal belongings, documents and photographs of President Mahmut Celal Bayar are displayed here.
On the second floor of the Republican Museum, there used to be a presidential suite, a hall for receiving foreign delegations, rooms for the personal secretary of the president, the prime minister and the chairman of the Assembly. Their decoration has survived to this day in its original form. The Republican Museum will help you learn more about the history of Turkey, and also help diversify your leisure time.
Museum of Ancient Anatolian Civilizations
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is the main museum in Turkey, and one of the richest in the world. Here are collected huge collections of various exhibits, which display almost all eras that have left their mark on the territory of modern Turkey. This list contains the civilizations of Urartu, Assyria, Phrygia. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations keeps particles Ancient Greece, ancient rome and the Byzantine Empire. Here you can plunge into the atmosphere of the Neolithic, Paleolithic and early Bronze Age. The oldest exhibit of the museum - a fragment of the Neolithic wall - is more than eight thousand years old.
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was founded in 1921. Its flourishing was facilitated by the first president of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk.
Steam Locomotive Museum
One of the many attractions of the Turkish capital is the Museum of Steam Locomotives, located in the open air in the Maltepe area. The museum is owned and operated by the Turkish State Railways. The main building of the museum was erected in 1924 and has historical significance.
The total area of this two-story stone building is about 680 square meters. There are expositions dedicated to the history of the development of railway transport in Turkey. You will be able to see antique lanterns, parts of locomotives, plumbing fixtures, communications equipment, as well as original tickets, documents and bonds.
But the main exhibits of the Museum of Steam Locomotives are located right in front of the entrance to the building, in the open air. These are locomotives from Henschel & Son, Vulcan Iron Works, Schwartzkopf, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. Many of them have been restored several times, so they look like new.
Museum of the War of Independence
The Museum of the War of Independence is one of the many attractions in Ankara. It is under the control of the Turkish Parliament and is of great historical and cultural value. The construction of the museum began in 1915 according to the design of the famous architect Salim Bey at the request of Enver Pasha. Its grand opening took place on April 23, 1920 with the participation of local authorities.
Entering the Museum of the War of Independence, you enter the main corridor, which is decorated with oil paintings depicting military events from 1918 to 1923. The first room to the right of it is used as a prayer hall, there are special prayer rugs here. The second room on the right is the former Personal Area Mustafa Kemal, who preserved the original appearance. Here is the main exhibit of the museum - the Presidential Seal.
Also in the museum are documents, photographs and artifacts relating to the opening of the Assembly, the terms of the Treaty of Sevres and Lausanne, as well as the First and Second Battles of İnönü. The main hall of the museum contains weapons and communications equipment used during the Revolutionary War.
It so happened that, once in Ankara, I was able to get to the Museum of Anatolian Civilization only at the end of the working day. The director of the museum, Dr. Hikmet Denizli, convinced me that all things should be postponed until tomorrow, and today wander around the Ankara citadel, to which the museum is attached, and go to one of the national restaurants located right in the fortress walls and on the streets of the old city, which and there is a citadel. Which is what I did...
Turkish father
From the height of the hill, on which both the museum and the citadel stand, there was a stunning view of a huge and strange city, the age of which is absolutely impossible to determine. The fortress is ancient - the rings of the walls were built in the 6th and 9th centuries, sometimes antique statues were used as building material. The hill itself is plastered with adobe huts with tiled roofs - picturesque, but very poor. This was built in the East at all times. And around - modern city, erected mainly after the Second World War. When the sun went down, a lot of lights flared up, among which two bright spots stood out - the largest mosque in Turkey, Kocatepe, built in 1987, and the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk ("Father of the Turks") - the first president of the Republic of Turkey, a man who in 20-30 years of the twentieth century completely changed the face of the country. It was he who, at the beginning of the 20th century, turned a small town with a population of 16 thousand people, known only for goats and angora wool, into the capital of a huge country, heir to greatness. Ottoman Empire. However, the Mausoleum of Ataturk is visible in Ankara from everywhere at any time of the day and in any weather. The next day I learned that the most famous Turk in the world and most adored by his people played a decisive role in the fate of the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. In the late 1920s, Ataturk proposed the creation of a Hittite museum in Ankara. And then objects belonging to the period of the Hittite kingdom (XVIII-XII centuries BC) and those cultures that preceded the Hittite began to be brought to the capital from other museums. They were collected at the base archaeological museum, opened in the Akkale tower in 1921 - at the height of the national liberation war, designed to return to the Turks, in addition to the lost territories occupied by Greece, also national dignity: to help the country overcome the defeat complex in the First World War. It was the museum that marked the continuity of the new Turkey in relation to the most ancient, almost mythological civilizations - primarily the Hittite. It is no coincidence that the exhibition in Japan, where many of his exhibits are now located, is called "Three Great Empires: Hittite, Byzantine and Ottoman."
Kemal Ataturk dreamed of making Turkey European country. And, I must say, I followed this path, regardless of the losses. Although he could hardly imagine that such a modest and peaceful institution as a museum, the idea of creating which he submitted, and even more so a local history museum, would allow Turkey to take another important step on the road to Europe.
And yet it happened - in 1997, when the Museum of Anatolian Civilization won the most prestigious competition held under the auspices of the Council of Europe, and became the European Museum of the Year. After that, the “Egg” was exhibited there for a whole year - a work of the classic of modern art by the English sculptor Henry Moore and at the same time the challenge prize of the competition (by the way, today it is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the champion of 2003, about which Around the World wrote in No. 3 for 2003).
Now Ankara has two symbols and two main attractions - the Museum of Anatolian Civilization and the Mausoleum of Ataturk, who died in 1938.
Children of empires
... But the next day I did not manage to see the museum right away. When I arrived, the first thing they offered me was tea. Fragrant and delicious tea in small glass cups is served everywhere in Turkey. Tea is an indispensable attribute of friendly meetings and business negotiations. In the museum cafe, located right at the entrance, on the way to the halls of the museum, you can sit quietly, recovering after a long climb up the mountain. It is this combination of some oriental relaxation and hedonism (drinking tea without rushing anywhere) with European expositional elegance, world-class quality of the material presented and an absolutely European approach to museum development that is one of the most charming features of the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. It was she, as well as an attentive attitude to those who live around, that gave the museum the opportunity to overtake more than 60 competitors from 20 countries of the world in the European museum competition.
It is no coincidence that the first thing I was taken to workshops and laboratories where children work. The road leads there through a vast courtyard-garden, where a kind of open-air museum storage is organized: ancient reliefs along the walls, rows of huge ancient Roman clay vessels for wine and oil on the hillside. Using the technologies of the ancients, children weave carpets, make pottery and replicas of museum objects, mint ancient Roman coins, draw - that is, they model the life of people who left behind what later became a museum exhibit. This is how the museum multiplies the number of people who, through the objects they made themselves, identify themselves with the great civilizations of antiquity - the Hittite and Phrygian kingdoms, the Roman and Byzantine empires. The museum is proud of the restoration and conservation laboratory and the scope of the archaeological excavations that are carried out throughout Turkey. Japanese, American and Canadian experts are taking part in the restoration projects. Excavations are almost a national affair.
In addition, the museum organizes new laboratories, holds concerts and lectures throughout the country. Not so long ago, its branch was opened in the ancient capital of Phrygia, the city of Gordion, located not far from Ankara. It was here in the IX-VIII centuries BC. e. Gordius and Midas reigned. The first became famous for inventing a knot that connected the yoke and the drawbar of his cart, which, according to legend, could only be untangled by the future ruler of all Asia. Alexander the Great solved the problem radically: he cut the knot with a sword (very similar to what Kemal Atatürk did with Turkey). King Midas is the same legendary unfortunate rich man, whose touch turned everything into gold, and the owner of donkey ears, which he was awarded by the god Apollo. The Museum of Anatolian Civilization is actively exploring the mythological space, acquiring and thus including in real story the world's most famous legends.
Market
The main exposition of the museum is located in two carefully restored and at the same time radically rebuilt historical buildings. One of them is associated with the name of another iconic character Turkish history. In 1464-1471, Mahmut Pasha, the vizier of the great Mehmet II the Conqueror, who founded the capital of the Ottoman Empire in 1453 in the defeated Constantinople, built a fort, which now houses the restoration laboratories and the administration of the museum. And the exposition spaces are located in the building of a huge covered market, also appeared here in the 15th century. In the picturesque fortress tower of Akkale, over which the Turkish flag flies and where the museum functioned until the 1940s of the last century, now there is only its storage.
The market provided the museum with completely unique opportunities. Along its perimeter there were 102 shops. The partitions were broken, the walls were slightly expanded, the masonry was exposed, and a very comfortable gallery was obtained, surrounding a huge hall with ten domes. This unique architecture forms a very capacious and effective space.
But the real market, or rather, several shopping streets, hung and lined with inexpensive goods familiar to us, is seething very close - at the foot of the fortress hill.
kingdoms
Entering the gallery encircling the museum, you begin a journey through time - through archaic cultures and ancient semi-legendary kingdoms. All the most spectacular items are displayed so that you can get very close to them. Thanks to this, the visitor gets the feeling that before him is not just antiquities, which should be respected because of their advanced years, but also design objects, works of modern art. Although, of course, they have nothing to do with art. These things had completely different functions (and there was no art in today's and even yesterday's sense of the word). For example, a bronze tablet from the 13th century BC makes a great impression. e., covered with Akkadian cuneiform and equipped with some kind of fasteners.
But this is just an agreement on the borders between the Hittite king and the ruler of one of the neighboring lands. The museum managed not only to show how beautiful and spectacular the finds of archaeologists are, but also to reveal their purpose. In essence, everything exhibited here is the only and main evidence of the existence of huge and powerful states. It is from these objects, and sometimes only from them, that one can get an idea of how life was organized in the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, how the dead were buried in the early Bronze Age (3000-2000 BC), how they looked, what utensils used and how they fought in the Hittite kingdom (1800-1200 BC), in Phrygia (VIII-IV centuries BC), in Lydia (at the same time), in Urartu (IX-VI centuries BC .).
Anyone who is interested in the history and culture of the Ancient East knows the names of the Anatolian hills and cities where the most sensational excavations took place. This is Chatal Huyuk stone Age), Aladja-Hyuyuk (Bronze Age), Kültepe (colonies of Assyrian merchants), Bogazkoy and Karchemish (Hittite antiquities), Gordion (Phrygia). All this diversity of cultures contained Asia Minor - more precisely, Central Anatolia.
It was here that in the first half of the 20th century, Kemal Ataturk founded the capital of a country that is so striving to become European. Surely he was guided not only by military-strategic or geopolitical considerations. He had to feel the huge cultural potential of this place, which could help the Turks to feel like a great people again.
Get to the roots
The basement floor of the museum houses the most, pardon the liberties, uninteresting, “on-duty” sections of the exposition: ancient antiquities (coins, ceramics, small plastic, gold) and everything related to the history of the place on which the city of Ankara stands. But it really seems that they were created "for show" - well, how not to show a golden laurel wreath, if the Romans left it on this earth. But there are plenty of such exhibits in many museums of the world, and there is no mystery here. The most interesting thing in this museum is what civilized mankind has learned about quite recently.
For example, the Hittites, who were briefly mentioned in the Bible, in Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions. Excavations that began in Central Anatolia at the very end of the 19th century produced sensational results. It turned out that it was here that the capital of the Hittite kingdom, the city of Hattusa, was located. Clay tiles were found covered with Akkadian cuneiform script, which was deciphered only in 1915 by the Czech linguist Berdjikh the Terrible. There was another sensation: it turned out that the Hittite language is related to Indo-European (Slavic, Romance, Germanic). Prior to this, it was believed that all the peoples of the Ancient East spoke languages close to the Afro-Asiatic language family (Arabic, Hebrew). Well, why not a gift to Ataturk, who was striving to find the European roots of the new Turkey at any cost? In addition, the Hittite kings won great victories - in 1595 BC. e. King Mursilis I destroyed Babylon, and in 1312 (or 1286) BC. e. King Muwatallu defeated the army and almost captured Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.
Grand Gallery
The main gallery of the Museum of Anatolian Civilization is a string of real “museum hits” that you can’t tear yourself away from. So you wander from one to another almost in a somnambulistic state. Here is a fresco from the 6th millennium BC. e. - one of the first plans of the city. And here is a small, but surprisingly monumental terracotta Mother Goddess, depicted at the time of childbirth (about 5750 BC). Or, for example, the intricate bronze tops of funeral standards (second half of the 3rd millennium BC), which were not intended for the eyes of the living at all, since after the funeral they were placed in the graves of noble people. And then - strict and perfect in form golden vessels of the same time, found near the Aladzha-Khuyuk hill, a clay tablet-letter, covered with Akkadian cuneiform, in a clay “envelope”, from an Assyrian colony (about the 19th century BC) , bizarre Hittite ceramics, cuneiform tablets ... And finally - the pride of the museum, one of its symbols: a pair of vigorous and confident buffalo standing on wide legs, which turn out to be Hittite terracotta goblets for ritual libations (XVI century BC).
For a long time I could not tear myself away from the Phrygian inlaid wooden tables of the 8th century BC. e., which, in my opinion, is an example of exemplary restoration. It is clear that archaeologists have found only wooden fragments. The restorers did not “complete” them with new details, but attached the fragments to a transparent plexiglass frame, repeating the historical form. The design seems to be hanging in the air, and the visitor can imagine the missing links. Among the Phrygian antiquities, the terracotta bust of King Midas stands out. His large, donkey-like ears are shamelessly bare, rather than covered by the traditional cap shape made world-famous by the French Revolution.
In this diversity there are common motives that make it possible to speak of the Anatolian civilization as an integral phenomenon. In different cultures and eras, there is a buffalo with powerful curved horns. Buffalo heads - on the walls of the reconstruction of the Neolithic temple in Chatal-Hyuk, buffaloes protect the solar disk with their horns on the tops of the ritual standards of the early Bronze Age. Buffaloes are a favorite motif in Hittite pottery. They also frame the edges of a huge bronze cauldron on a tripod, a masterpiece of Urartu masters (8th-7th centuries BC).
Know your heroes
And yet, the strongest impression is made by the central hall of the exposition (you can get there through four entrances, from almost any section of the gallery). Here, under the vaults and domes of the old market, spectacularly illuminated reliefs of basalt and sandstone lined up in the semi-darkness (all of them date back to the late Hittite and Phrygian times - the 10th-9th centuries BC). Scenes of battles and meals, hunting and burials... Smooth rows of warriors on foot and in chariots, sphinxes and priests - they all walk measuredly towards some unknown goal. You can get very close to them and to the huge basalt lions to see the details of clothes and chariots, arrows, spears and beards of warriors, muzzles of animals, the very texture of the stone.
By the way, the motives of these reliefs were used by the architects who built Anit Kabir - the Mausoleum of Ataturk. There, on sandstone slabs, no less mythological soldiers of the Turkish army, peasants and representatives of the intelligentsia walk into a bright future ...
In the center of the room, surrounded by stone gods and heroes, a low pedestal was installed. On it, under a transparent cap, is a clay replica of a bronze pommel of a ritual standard in the form of a buffalo already familiar to us (the original dates back to 2300-2100 BC). There are also laid out drawings - "portraits of the exhibits." These are the works of children who are engaged in workshops at the museum. And I must say that for the museum they are no less important than the Hittite rarities. Otherwise, why was such a place of honor given to a modest installation - in the very center of the museum. This expositional gesture reads a simple thought – Anatolian civilization continues.
City
From the museum, it is a stone's throw to the citadel - the real old city, the main Ankara open-air museum. Here, as on the slopes of the hill on which the fortress stands, life is in full swing - people weave carpets, weave lace, bake bread (for themselves, not for tourists), make boots - they do everything, up to the tin domes of minarets. Antique shops sell junk.
There are other antiquities in Ankara, and all of them have grown into the urban environment. It seems that the city rebuilt around them, leaving untouched the ruins of a temple dedicated to Emperor Augustus and built in the year 10, the remains of baths built in the III century, during the reign of Emperor Caracalla, in honor of the god of healing Aesculapius. On the city square bus station rises real masterpiece- a ribbed column, perfect in proportions, erected, as it is written on a memorial tablet, "in 362 on the occasion of the visit of Emperor Julian to Ankara."
One of the exhibits of the museum has become a symbol of Ankara - three buffaloes, protecting the sun with their horns, cast by a modern sculptor, settled on the dividing strip of the main city highway - Ataturk Boulevard.
Thus, the Anatolian civilization consolidated its monopoly on the historical self-determination of the capital of Turkey. Do not believe those residents of Ankara who will say that the most a nice place is the road to Istanbul. It is worth coming here, even making a solid detour around the country.
Museums in Ankara:
Open daily except Mondays from 9.00 to 17.00.
Ticket price - 10 million Turkish lira (about 7.5 US dollars)
Entrance for students and schoolchildren is free
Mausoleum of Ataturk (Anit Kabir)
– Ataturk’s tomb, his personal belongings, letters, library, Art Gallery dedicated to the events of the War of Independence 1919-1923
Ethnographical museum
– carpets, national clothes, fabrics, faience, musical instruments
Museum natural history
- fossils, minerals, prehistoric animals
State Museum of Arts
- Turkish art from the 19th century to the present day
Postal Museum
– postage and stamps of Turkey
Museum of the Republic
- events of the early republican period of Turkish history
War of Independence Museum
— events of the 1920s
Locomotive Museum
- an open-air exhibition of steam locomotives
Photo by Alexander Sorin
