North Central Anatolia is the northern third of Central Anatolia.

Cities

  • 🌍 Ankara — the national capital is the country's second largest city after Istanbul
  • 🌍 Beypazarı — an Ottoman old town with a lively bazaar on the Silk Road
  • 🌍 Çankırı — a traditional town at the base of a spur dominated by a Roman fortress
  • 🌍 Divriği — the site of the elegant Great Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • 🌍 Sivas — the site of a Seljuk Madrese complex, as well of the Congress of Sivas that planned the Turkish War of Independence.

Other destinations

Understand

North Central Anatolia mostly consists of rolling steppes, with forested areas only along the northwestern vedge of the region bordering Western Karadeniz or in scattered, few-and-far-between locations where the old-growth black pine forest, which once covered much of the region, remains.

The Romans called this region Galatia after the Celts who settled in the area in the 3rd century BC, marking their easternmost expansion.

Get in

Ankara forms the nerve centre of Turkish highway and railway networks. West to east, Polatlı, Ankara, Kırıkkale, Yozgat, and Sivas are served by high-speed railway. The most useful airport is Ankara's Esenboğa, while Sivas also has an airport with some domestic connections.

Get around

See

  • Ancient Anatolian capitals: Gordion (of Phrygians) and Hattusha (of Hittites). Ankara's Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is also rich in ancient art from the region and beyond.
  • Medieval heritage: Seljuk monuments in Sivas, numerous mosques from the Ahis (a cross between a fraternity and a guild) in Ankara, and the UNESCO-listed mosque and hospital from the Mengüceks in Divriği.
  • Ottoman old towns: Beypazarı, and Çankırı.
  • Early republican history: Sivas, and of course Ankara.

Do

  • Kızılcahamam and Haymana north and south of Ankara respectively have hot springs in use since time immemorial, as do some rural locations east of Sivas.

Eat

Drink

Stay safe

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