Ankara: Atatürk's mausoleum on the hill

Chosen as Turkey's capital instead of Istanbul, Ankara houses the mausoleum of the republic's founder on its highest hill.

The center is comfortably explored on foot; the metro connects distant neighborhoods.

The Anıtkabir, monumental mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, dominates the city from a hill with a long ceremonial avenue flanked by lion statues.

A few steps away, the Castle of Ankara, a fortress of Hittite origin repeatedly expanded by Romans, Byzantines, and Seljuks, offers a panoramic view over the entire city.

Continuing, one visits the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which gathers Hittite, Phrygian, and Roman artifacts among the most important in all of Anatolia.

Toward evening, the district of Kızılay, commercial heart of the modern city, animates cafés and restaurants in the Turkish administrative center.

The Anıtkabir was built over nine years with international design contributions, becoming a national symbol visited each year by millions of Turkish citizens on civil pilgrimage.

Ankara was chosen as capital in 1923 instead of Istanbul precisely for its central position in Anatolia, far from the foreign influences that had marked the former Ottoman capital.