Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations occupies a restored 15th-century Ottoman bedesten in the Ulus district of Ankara, adjacent to the ancient citadel. Originally built as a caravanserai under Sultan Mehmed II, the bedesten was converted into a museum in 1921 on the instruction of Atatürk, with permanent galleries opening in 1938. In 1997 it became the first Turkish institution to win the European Museum of the Year Award. The building's central domed hall, surrounding arcaded bays, original timber vaulting, and carved stone entrance portal provide a remarkable architectural setting for the collections. The permanent galleries are arranged in a strict chronological arc around the interior, covering roughly ten millennia of Anatolian history. The Neolithic section opens with finds from Çatalhöyük — goddess figurines, obsidian tools, and facsimiles of iconic wall paintings — followed by Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age grave goods from Alacahöyük, including bronze ceremonial standards and ritual deer figurines dating to approximately 2500 BC. The Hittite Empire gallery is the collection's undisputed centrepiece: life-size basalt orthostat reliefs carved at Hattusa, Carchemish, and Sakçagözü line the walls, accompanied by bronze divine figurines, ceremonial weapons, and cuneiform tablets from the imperial archive — a concentration of Hittite monumental sculpture unrivalled anywhere in the world. The adjacent Phrygian bay presents metalwork and wooden furniture fragments from the Gordion royal tumuli, while Urartian bronzes and Greek and Roman finds conclude the circuit. Conservation of the bedesten's stonework and timberwork has been ongoing since its 1997 restoration, and the building retains its Ottoman fabric alongside its ancient contents. All major case labels are bilingual in Turkish and English. Audio guides are available for rental at the entrance desk, and a gift shop near the exit stocks scholarly catalogue reproductions and high-quality facsimiles of key objects.