The Republic's capital and Anatolia's past
Ankara became the capital of the Turkish Republic in 1923, and much of the city reflects that modern purpose. Its two essential sights are Anıtkabir, the monumental mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, whose Hittite, Phrygian and Urartian finds trace millennia of history. Above the old town, the citadel's walls give wide views, and the lanes below have been restored with craft shops and cafés. The Roman Temple of Augustus preserves an important inscription of the emperor's deeds.