The Ancient Alacahoyuk, Ankara

In the centre of the Republic of Turkey is the city of Alacahoyuk. Ankara, Turkey's capital and the famous Cappadocia are only three hours away. Alacahoyuk may be visited in one day by travelling from Ankara to Cappadocia because of its close vicinity to Hattusa Ancient City. For those interested in history and archaeology, we strongly propose that you extend your self-drive Cappadocia tour by one day so that you can spend more time seeing this beautiful city as you go to Cappadocia or Antalya, as suggested in our self-drive Ankara to Antalya tour. Now we must say that You have a reason to apply for a turkey visa online to explore Alacahoyuk.

In 1835, W.G. Hamilton found Alacahoyuk. During the Ottoman era, the first archaeological expeditions in Alacahoyuk began in 1907. The First World War caused the excavations to stop. After 1935, the Republic of Turkey continued the excavations, which lasted until the 1970s. Most of Alacahoyuk's monumental buildings are from the Hittite era, but the most significant discoveries came from royal tombs dating to the third millennium BCE. The bronze animal idols and sun discs are excellent. The location of these royal tombs amid the archaeological site emphasises the site's importance as a place of worship for the local communities. These graves included royal remains that weren't from Anatolia. They most likely spoke an Indo-European language and were from southern Russia. They might even end up controlling the populace there. The size of the graves, the figurines, and the sun discs discovered inside them all add legitimacy to this theory. The royals were put to sleep facing south in the foetal position. They were richly decorated with repoussé gold-leaf figures, belt buckles, and fibulae in gold. The double-headed eagle is what I consider Alacahoyuk's most stunning discovery. This mythical beast represented power for all Anatolian Civilizations, including the Hittites, Romans, and Seljuks.

Before the Hittite Empire announced Hattusa as its capital, Alacahoyuk was a more significant city. Alacahoyuk's beautiful construction is evidence of the place's religious significance to the Hittites. Inner and outer gates with ramps for archers are located on the orthostat-covered city walls. The massive southern entrance is positioned between two towers and is guarded by two enormous Hittite-era sphinxes. The 4 m high monolithic pillars that served as door jambs were carved in the shape of sphinxes and stood about 2 metres above the ground. Numerous orthostats are covering the tower foundations near the Sphinx Gate. Sphinxes and reliefs date to the 13th century BCE. Replicas serve as the reliefs in the ancient city. The original parts were relocated to Ankara's Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Around the imposing gate of Alcahoyuk, the second row of orthostats was discovered. It is still unclear where they are precise. Unknown is Alacahoyuk's Hittite name during the Hittite era. It's possible that the city was consecrated to the Hittite sun deity Arinna.

Life in Alacahoyuk began long before the Hittite Empire reached its zenith and has persisted ever since. The area's importance even now is shown by the Alaca settlement surrounding the old city. Extensive fertile plains are ideal for farming and raising livestock. Thousands of years ago, the Hittites were aware of this and constructed irrigation and reservoir systems that the people still use today. Don't skip a visit to one of the Hittite reservoirs. IV Tudhaliya was built close to Alacahoyuk in 1240 BCE.

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