Civilization

Hittite

Ancient cities

Alacahöyük

Turkey Mound settlement

Alacahöyük

Alaca Höyük, Alacahöyük

Alacahöyük is a settlement mound in Alaca district, Çorum, known for its Early Bronze Age royal tombs, the Hittite Sphinx Gate and the museum on the site.

Arslantepe Mound UNESCO

Turkey Mound settlement

Arslantepe Mound

Melid, Meliddu, Malitiya

Arslantepe in Malatya is a mound whose Late Chalcolithic palace and Royal Tomb document early forms of administration; a World Heritage Site since 2021.

Gordion UNESCO

Turkey Ancient city

Gordion

Gordium, Vindia, Yassıhöyük

Gordion near Polatlı was Phrygia's royal seat; the 300 m wide Midas Mound holds the oldest known upright timber building. It joined the World Heritage List in 2023.

Harran

Turkey Ancient city

Harran

Carrhae, Harran, Ḥarrān, Charris

Harran, 44 km south of Şanlıurfa in the middle of its own plain, is an ancient settlement known for its walls, citadel, Great Mosque and beehive-style mudbrick houses.

Hattusa (Boğazköy) UNESCO

Turkey Ancient city

Hattusa (Boğazköy)

Hattusha, Hattuš, Hattuşaş, Boğazköy, Boğazkale

Hattusa near Çorum was the walled capital of the Hittite Empire: Lion Gate, Sphinx Gate, the Great Temple and the Yazılıkaya reliefs. A World Heritage Site since 1986.

Karatepe-Aslantaş

Turkey Ancient city

Karatepe-Aslantaş

Azatiwataya, Azativataya

Karatepe-Aslantaş is Azatiwataya, a late Hittite border fortress on the Ceyhan River near Kadirli in Osmaniye, known for its relief-covered gates and bilingual inscription.

Göreme and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia UNESCO

Turkey Underground city

Kaymaklı Underground City

Enegüp

Kaymaklı is a multi-level underground city cut into Cappadocian tuff, known for low narrow passages, a church and a stone with 57 holes; a UNESCO property component.

Kültepe (Kanesh-Karum)

Turkey Mound settlement

Kültepe (Kanesh-Karum)

Kaniş, Neşa, Kanesh, Nesha

At the foot of Mount Erciyes near Kayseri, ancient Kanesh: a capital mound and its Karum lower town, hub of the Assyrian merchants and source of thousands of cuneiform tablets.

Turkey Ancient city

Stratonikeia

Stratonikeia, Atriya, Khrysaoris, Idrias, Eskihisar

A Carian city near Yatağan whose ruins are reached along Ottoman paving stones past inhabited village houses: the largest gymnasium known from antiquity and a calendar carved in stone.

Tlos

Turkey Ancient city

Tlos

Tlos, Tlawa, Dalawa

Tlos is a Lycian city at the foot of the Akdağlar in Seydikemer, known for the Bellerophon tomb, theatre, stadium and acropolis, on UNESCO's Tentative List since 2009.

Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop

Turkey Archaeological site

Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop

Yesemek, near İslahiye, was the largest quarry and sculpture workshop of the Near East in Hittite and Late Hittite times, now an open-air museum of gate-lion blanks.