The Anitkabir, the mausoleum built for Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, stands as one of the most monumental of the thousands of monuments the country counts within its borders. Two dozen lion statues stare down visitors as they approach the entrance to the mausoleum, which is composed of marble and perched high above Ankara. Colonnades and courtyards pepper the site, along with an extensive collection of Ataturk memorabilia and numerous descriptions of the reforms he put in place. Due to Ataturk's immense popularity, the mausoleum is essentially a national pilgrimage site; Turkish families and school groups frequently crowd the site during the summertime, even mid-week.
A superb collection of artifacts culled from every important archeological dig in Anatolia, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations describes the region's history from the Palaeolithic era onward. The contents of the halls, housed in an exactingly restored 15th century covered market, cover each of the country's pre-Turkish civilizations: Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, Lydian, Greek and Roman. Early birds can avoid the deluge of tour buses and school groups that descend on the museum year-round.
Dating from the 3rd century A.D., the Roman baths at Ankara are sufficiently intact to clearly present their classical layout for history buffs to admire. Indeed, the standard dressing room, cold room, warm room and hot room are all recognizable without too much imagination coming into play. While not currently operating -- unlike those at Pamukkale -- inscriptions indicate that the baths were in continuous use for 500 years.
Train aficionados will burn a hole in their Instagram feed at the charmingly rusting open-air Steam Locomotive Museum. This collection of vintage Asian, Eastern Bloc and European steam engines crowds the tracks to the southwest of Ankara Central Station, the city's main train station. It's accessible by a circuitous route that ducks beneath an underpass and emerges up a set of stairs just before entering the Tandogan Kapali Carsi shopping district.
Ataturk created Ankara's best outdoor space, Genclik Park, when he had city engineers convert a festering swamp into an artificial lake in the center of the city. A permanent fairground amuses families and several cozy tea gardens dot the space. (To avoid embarrassment, women traveling solo should choose tea gardens with the word "aile" -- family -- in the name.) In addition to people-watching and ample space for a game of Frisbee, Genclik Park features a cultural center, a youth community center and a convention hall, as well as dozens of kiosks and food stands. At night, lovely light shows sparkle in the waters of the central pool.
