Two Ottoman buildings from the 15th century, a bedesten and a han, today house one of the most complete archaeological collections in the Middle East. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara occupies structures originally built for trade during the period of Ottoman rule, later converted into a museum in 1921 at the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who wanted to create a collection center for the artifacts of Anatolia. The building was restored and adapted for museum use in the following years, opening to the public in its current form in 1968.
The museum is located in the historic district of Ulus, just a short walk from the Ankara Citadel, on a hill that overlooks the modern city. The location is not random: this has been the heart of human settlement in the area for millennia, and the choice to place the museum here reflects a geographical continuity with the civilizations it aims to document. The current entrance, with its paved courtyard and worked stone portals, still retains the original architectural features of the Ottoman buildings.
The collections: from prehistory to the Hittites
The circular structure of the bedesten allows for an almost automatic chronological visit: it begins with Paleolithic and Neolithic artifacts, including materials from Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest documented urban settlements in the world, dating back to around 7500 B.C. The female terracotta figurines from this site, displayed in carefully lit showcases, show a surprising plasticity for the time and are among the most photographed pieces in the entire collection.
The most famous core of the museum is the section dedicated to the Hittites, the power that dominated central Anatolia between approximately 1700 and 1200 B.C. Here, monumental basalt reliefs from sites such as Carchemish and Malatya can be found, depicting kings, deities, and hunting scenes. Particularly impressive are the stone lions that served as guardians of the portals in Hittite temples: some of these sculptures exceed one and a half meters in height and still show traces of chisel work on their flanks. The Phrygian section, with materials from Gordion, completes the picture of the great pre-classical Anatolian civilizations.
Masterpieces Not to Be Missed
Among the individual objects that deserve special attention is the solar disk of Alacahöyük, a bronze object dating back to the 3rd millennium B.C., interpreted as a cosmological symbol or ceremonial standard. Its complex geometric shape, with rays and stylized animal figures, has become one of the iconic symbols of Turkish archaeology and is reproduced in many public contexts in Ankara. In the halls dedicated to the Bronze Age, there are also gold and silver jewelry of exquisite craftsmanship, found in funerary contexts of central Anatolia.
The Assyrian section deserves a specific stop for the cuneiform tablets from Kültepe, the ancient Kanesh, which document the trade between Assyrian merchants and local populations in the 2nd millennium B.C. These texts represent some of the earliest writings found in Anatolia and allow readers to see, through explanatory panels, fragments of commercial contracts and private letters from three thousand years ago.
How to organize the visit
The museum is open every day except Monday, with hours that vary slightly between summer and winter. The entrance ticket is affordable and falls within the range of Turkish state museums, with reduced rates for students and children. The best time to visit is early in the morning, preferably between 9 and 11, when the halls are still relatively empty and the natural light filtering through the roof of the bedesten illuminates the artifacts optimally. In the summer months, organized groups arrive in mass after 10, making some sections difficult to access.
To reach the museum from Kızılay Square, the modern center of Ankara, you can take the subway to Ulus station and then walk uphill for about ten minutes towards the Citadel. The route is marked. Allow at least two and a half hours for a complete visit without rushing; those who want to delve into the Hittite and Neolithic sections can easily spend four hours. The internal café offers a pleasant spot for a break in the courtyard, useful for reorganizing thoughts before tackling the final halls.
The context of the Ulus neighborhood
Upon leaving the museum, it is worth spending a few minutes at the Ankara Citadel, which can be reached in a few minutes on foot. The Byzantine walls and Seljuk towers offer a panoramic view of the modern city and allow for a visual contextualization of the territory that the museum documents through its artifacts. In the neighborhood, there are also small traditional restaurants where you can eat local dishes at reasonable prices, away from the tourist circuits of the center.
The museum does not have an audio guide in Italian, but the main explanatory panels are translated into English, which allows for a satisfactory independent visit. Those who want to delve deeper can purchase the official catalog available in the bookshop at the entrance, which includes high-quality photographic reproductions of the main pieces and scientific texts on the individual civilizations represented.
