Ankara -From
Yesterday To Today
Excavations carried out in and around Ankara
revealed that the early settlement in the region goes
back to prehistoric ages. Ahlatlıbel, Koçumbeli,
Etiyokuşu, Karaoğlan which are among the
settlements of Bronz Age dated 3000 B.C. have the
power to display the characteristics of the Central
Anatolian culture. The Ankuwa city which is
frequently mentioned in the Hittite works
was probably located at today’s Ankara. The
first foundation of Ankara as a city took
place during the Phrygian Era. Gordion,
the capital city of Phrygia is one of the
most important ancient sites of the Central
Anatolia. According to the legends, great
Phrygian King Midas had founded the
Ankara city. Phrygians named this place
as “Ankyra” meaing “anchor.” Tombs in
the region revealed that the importance of
Phrygian settlement especially between
750-500 B.C. It is know that the city which
was under the domination of Lydians and
Persians after the collapse of Phrygia,
was a minor trade center on the famous Royal
Road which was built during the reign of
Persian King Darius I (522-486 B.C.).After
Gordion, King of Macedonia, Alexander the
Great ( 336-323 B.C.) came to this place in 333
B.C. and ended the Persian domination in the
Anatolia. It is known that Tetosags, a tribe
of Galatians who came to the Anatolia from
Europe between 278-277 B.C. made Ankara their
capital city. Roman Empire Augustus defeated
Galatians in the 25 B.C. from Galatians, joined
the region to the Roman Empire and declared
the city as the capital of Galatian province.
Ankara in the 1st and 2nd century A.C. became
a very imporant junction in the Roman road
network in the Anatolia and was a developed city
in terms of administrative and military functions.
When in 395 B.C. the Roman Empire was divided
into two, Ankara region remained under the
rule of Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) and
preserved