Hattusha– Part One

Hattusha– Part One August 1, 2024

Hattusha, like the Hittite empire is a huge and sprawling site that one cannot cover in a single visit. It’s a good 2 hours plus bus ride out of Ankara to get to it, and it is well and truly in the middle of nowhere today.  It will take several posts to give even a basic look at the site, set on multiple tall hills.  But not only is the Hittite capital sprawling so was their empire as this map will show….

As for the capital itself, it is spread out all over several hills and valleys. 

When this site became a World Heritage Site of UNESCO, more restoration or recreation was taken on.  Here, at the entrance they have built a mock up of what the outer walls would have looked like.

The first part we explored was the lower city and its temple.

This schematic shows the scope and spread of the lower city. 

This shot above is taken from the lower city looking up to part of the upper city.

One the things you learn from this lower city, is that the Hittites, being such fierce warriors (remember Uriah the Hittite) were not all that worried about being attacked in the lower part of their capital, and besides they had many higher places to retreat to, if the need arose.   If you look left from this site, you will see large fields, now used for grazing, and the remains of a different part of the city walls…


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