Cities & regions
Ankara
The capital since 1923, a planned city built around an ancient citadel.
The Turkish name
Ankara
Recording on its way.
The story
Ankara was a modest Anatolian town with a hilltop castle when the national movement made it its base in 1920. After it became the capital in 1923 the new state built ministries, boulevards and parks on the plain below.
Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Atatürk completed in 1953, is the city's great monument. The old citadel quarter, the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations and the long-haired Angora goat and cat all carry the city's name into the world.
At a glance
- Capital since
- 13 October 1923
- Landmark
- Anıtkabir, 1953
- Region
- Central Anatolia