Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire, the power that in the 13th century BC signed a peace treaty with Ramesses II, the earliest one whose text has come down to us. It lies on a hillside in central Anatolia, next to the village of Boğazkale, between Ankara and Cappadocia. What survives is six kilometres of walls, four gates decorated with lions, sphinxes and warriors, a 70-metre tunnel, the Great Temple and, two kilometres away, the sanctuary of Yazılıkaya with its gods carved into the rock.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, it is one of the least visited and most impressive sites in Türkiye. You can see it in half a day, by car with stops, and it fits neatly into the drive between Ankara and Cappadocia.
A little history
The Hittites, a people who spoke an Indo-European language, made Hattusa their capital around 1650 BC and from here ruled Anatolia and northern Syria for four centuries, as rivals of Egypt, Babylon and Assyria. The excavations have brought to light their archive of more than 30,000 cuneiform tablets, which holds the Treaty of Kadesh, laws, myths and royal correspondence. The empire collapsed around 1180 BC, in the crisis at the end of the Bronze Age, and the city was abandoned.
The ruins were rediscovered in 1834, and German archaeologists have been digging here since 1906. In 2004 they rebuilt a stretch of the mudbrick wall, towers included, using ancient techniques, so you can see what it once looked like.
What to see at Hattusa
The Great Temple
In the Lower City stands a huge complex ringed by storerooms, with its great storage jars still sunk in the ground and the two chambers of the storm god and the sun goddess. Every visitor puts a hand on a polished green stone whose origin nobody knows.
The Lion Gate
Two stone lions from the 14th century BC, half emerging from the blocks, guard a gate with a parabolic arch in the wall of the Upper City. This is the classic image of Hattusa.
Yerkapı and the Sphinx Gate
At the highest point is a stone rampart 250 metres long, crossed by a 70-metre tunnel that you walk through, stooping, to leave the city. On top stands the Sphinx Gate, whose original figures are in the Boğazkale museum. From the rampart you can take in the whole site.
The King’s Gate and the acropolis
A warrior with an axe and a horned helmet guards the King’s Gate; this one is a copy, and the original is in Ankara. Further down lie the acropolis of Büyükkale, with the foundations of the palace and the archives, and the hieroglyph chamber at Nişantepe.
Yazılıkaya
Two kilometres away is a natural sanctuary of two rock chambers open to the sky. In the large chamber, two processions of gods and goddesses, each labelled with its name in hieroglyphs, converge on the central scene of the storm god and the sun goddess. In the small one, the twelve gods of the underworld march in single file, and King Tudhaliya IV stands in the embrace of his god. This is the finest Hittite art in existence, and late in the afternoon the light makes the reliefs easy to read.
Tips for your visit
Allow three hours. A five-kilometre road loops around the city, with a car park at every stop; the stretches on foot are over stone and uphill.
- By car with stops is the sensible way to do it; on foot it takes a long half day, with plenty of climbing.
- Bring a hat, water and closed shoes: there is no shade, and in the Yerkapı tunnel you have to stoop.
- See Yazılıkaya in the afternoon, when the sun falls on the reliefs; in the morning they are in shadow.
- The small Boğazkale museum has the original sphinxes and is worth half an hour.
Tickets and prices
At the time of writing (2026), entry costs €5 under the official 2027 tariff, and the ticket includes Yazılıkaya. On my tours the ticket is either included or I take care of it for you.
Where it is and how to get there
Hattusa lies next to Boğazkale, in Çorum province, 200 kilometres from Ankara (two and a half hours) and about 230 from Cappadocia (three hours), on good roads. Without a car or a tour it isn’t practical: there is no direct public transport.
How I include it in my tours
It is the main stop on the drive from Ankara to Cappadocia on the Archaeological Anatolia tour, the day after the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara, where the original pieces are kept. For Türkiye’s other great ancient cities, read the ancient cities of Anatolia.
If you’d like to add the Hittites to your route, message me through the tailor-made trip form.