Today we spent the afternoon exploring the ruins of Hattusha, the Hittite capital.

The rest of the day was spent getting to and from Hattusha as it was a good three hour drive from Ankara.

We left the hotel at 8:00 this morning after a good breakfast. Of course, I had to try out the extensive selection of cheeses. They have good cheese in this part of the world.

The first part of the journey was through the outskirts of Ankara. We saw a lot of housing and many more mosques. I really like the look of this one with the green domes.

We were soon out in the country as we headed east toward Hattusha. The landscape was varied, but reminded me of several different places in the western US. This particular picture reminds me of the Red Hills area of Kansas. My friends from Kansas would probably agree that this looks like Clark county.

Here is another view that reminds me of Western Kansas. The interesting point in this picture though is that cattle herder. We saw many flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle. All of them were attended. I have some good pictures of shepherds, but they will have to wait for a future post.

Here is one of the signs at the entrance to Hattusha. The name has changed over time, but was at one time known at Hattusa. The modern name for the area is Bogazkale, but even that has been changed from Boghazkoy.

Our first stop was at the Lower City of Hattusha. I have many pictures from this area, but decided to post this one that showed the large extent of the ruins. This was mostly a temple area.

Here is one of the grand entrances to the city. This is known as the Lion Gate. You can see the two large lions on each side of the entrance. I have more to tell about each of the areas we visited at Hattusha, but am too tired to write too much this evening. I will write more about Hattusha when I return home.

Today was a cold windy day as you can tell by the way that I am dressed in this picture. I am definitely glad that I took my jacket.

Another of the city gates is known as the Sphinx gate. Archeaologists believe that it was influenced by contact with the Egyptians, who were thought to be trading partners.

We also visited several other major sites with the capital, but I will post those pictures in future posts about Hattusha. This was a really cool dig site and reminded me of other places I have visited around the world, especially Teotihuacan in Mexico.

After a late lunch we went and visited Yazilikaya, which is known as the Hittite Rock Sanctuary. There were many reliefs cut into the rock at the site and they are located in two main chambers. I have pictures of most of the reliefs and will share more about them in a future post. This one shows the 12 gods of the underworld.

After our visit to Yazilikaya, we boarded the bus for the ride back to the hotel. We had a little bit of time to clean up and then it was time for a nice Turkish Meatball dinner. The dinner was really nice.

I took more than 450 pictures today, so had a hard time choosing which ones to use in the post tonight.

Tomorrow we will visit a couple of sites in Ankara and will then travel to Cappadocia. I am looking forward to staying in a cave hotel there.

Steven

Check out the following blogs for more about out tour:

The other side of the world

Alexander’s Adventures: Travels of the Young at Heart

Ferrell’s Travel Blog