Day 199, Friday August 9, 2019
“I believe in practicing prudence at least once every two or three years.”
-Molly Ivins
Sites Covered in this Post
• Ankara Aquarium
• Sights in Ankara
Lesson Learned: The Internet in Turkey sucks. Not Egypt sucky, but close. We are here in Ankara, the capital city, and you can’t go two hours without the network dropping. Sometimes for just a few seconds, some times for half an hour. How do these people get anything done. On top of that, power drops periodically, like when we were on an elevator at the aquarium. Not fun, considering most Turkish elevators are the size of a phone booth. I know that won’t register for the youngsters, so go ask your grandma.
We may grip about the Internet service in the US, well at least we gripe about the different carriers, but they would love it in a lot of the places we’ve visited in the past 7 months. I’ve heard the technology infrastructure is decent here, but I’ve yet to see it in any hotel, airport, café, or in my daughter’s apartment. Be prepared.
Fish, Snakes, Birds and Frogs in the Desert
Do you know how to say Angora (like the wool, cats, goats, or rabbits) in Turkish? It’s Ankara, just like the city (well I found that interesting anyway). We went to the Ankara aquarium, in the mall, next to the Ikea. You think I’m joking. I’m not. What else can you say about an aquarium? It has fish. Arleigh liked the sharks and rays. This one also has snakes, frogs, salamanders, marmosets, lynxs, chickens, pheasants, and a lot of rabbits. What else is there to do in Ankara?
Castles and Museums of Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey, very western, very modern, and crowded with malls. Ankara has a population of around 4.5 million people and is Turkey’s second largest city after Istanbul. I don’t know which there is more in Ankara…..mosques or malls. If you don’t want to go to prayer, go to the mall. If you are all shopped out, go to the mosque to pray you have enough money to cover the damage. Ankara does have nice malls though.
In 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was established in Ankara, which became the headquarters of the Turkish National Movement during the Turkish War of Independence. Ankara became the capital upon the establishment of the Republic in 1923.
The city gave its name to the Angora wool shorn from Angora rabbits, the long-haired Angora goat (the source of mohair), and the Angora cat. I looked, I didn’t find any cat sweaters. You can pick up a freshly shorn bag of Angora goat fleece if you want though.
Ankara has been around a long, long time with Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman archaeological sites. The historical center of town remains crowned by the ruins of the old citadel, though its narrow, winding streets are mostly crowded with shops for tourists we never saw. Although few of its outworks have survived, there are well-preserved examples of Roman and Ottoman architecture throughout the city.
This place has a lot of hills. You really can’t get a good feel for how large it is because most of it is hidden from direct view. It really has a secular feel to the town, though you can always see 5 or six mosques without turning your head if you are standing on the top of a hill or high up in one of the thousands of high-rise apartment buildings. The region’s history can be traced back to the Bronze Age Hattic civilization, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BCE by the Hittites, in the 10th century BCE by the Phrygians, and later by the Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Galatians (who settled Ireland and Scotland), Romans, Byzantines, and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, the Ottoman Empire and finally republican Turkey.
They (the Turks) kind of remind me of Ireland about being taken over a lot, but Ireland never could lay claim to being the ruler of much of Asia Minor and Eastern Europe like the Ottomans could. Back in the 13th through the 18th centuries, the Turks were the bad asses on the block. It’s too bad that “the Ottomans” doesn’t have the same ominous ring to it as “the Huns” or “the Romans” or “the Prussians” has. The same think can be said for “the Franks”. If you use Franks and Ottomans in the same sentence it sounds like you are describing Las Vegas lounge performers.
This is a big city. There isn’t a cute little old town or city center you can visit like there is in Athens, Luxor, Dubrovnik, or Florence. There are glimpses of Ankara’s historic past around town, but they aren’t well preserved. Ancient sites remaining in Ankara include:
• Ankara Citadel – laid by the Galatians on a prominent lava outcrop, and completed by the Romans at the beginning of the new millennium. The Byzantines and Seljuks added to the fortress. The area around the citadel is the oldest part of Ankara, and contains many fine examples of traditional architecture.
• Roman Baths – The baths were built during the reign of the Roman emperor Caracalla in the early 3rd century to honor Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Today, only the basement and first floors remain.
• Temple of Augustus and Rome – built 25 to 20 BCE following the conquest of Central Anatolia by the Roman Empire. Ancyra then formed the capital of the new province of Galatia. The temple on the ancient acropolis of Ancyra was enlarged in the 2nd century and converted into a church in the 5th century.
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
The Museum is situated at the entrance of the Ankara Castle. It is an old 15th century bedesten (covered bazaar) that has been restored and now houses a collection of Paleolithic, Neolithic, Hatti, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian and Roman works as well as a major section dedicated to Lydian treasures. It’s a very small museum, but has some nice pieces and won’t take you over an hour or two to see it all. Most of the artifacts located here are small, but are in very good condition.
Mary, Mike and Arleigh will be here for two years. I’m sure we’ll be back. They have a pretty nice set-up for a place to live. Nice views out of their windows.
