Story
The story of Hattusa
The first traces of settlement on this rugged ground reach back to the 6th millennium BC, long before it became the capital of the Hittites. In the 3rd millennium BC the Hattians settled here and called the place Hattush. Anitta, king of Kussara, burned and destroyed the city, but the Hittite king Hattusili I later moved his capital here, and Hattusa served as the Hittite capital between the 17th and 13th centuries BC.
The city spread over about 2 square kilometres of mountainous terrain, ringed by walls built under Suppiluliuma I, who ruled in 1344-1322 BC. Royals lived in the upper city, while the lower city held houses of wood and mud brick. Today, as you walk the site, only the stone foundations of temples and palaces remain.
In 1906 Hugo Winckler and Theodor Makridi Bey uncovered a great Hittite archive written in cuneiform. Hattusa joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1986.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
Hear this story on the spot, in a natural voice
On Sightlore, the story of Hattusa is narrated in a natural voice in 5 languages. When you arrive, say "I'm here" and get your passport stamp.
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More highlights in Çorum
- YazılıkayaYazılıkaya, Eskişehir, also called Midas City, is a village with Phrygian ruins. Yazılıkaya was a sanctuary of Hattusa, the capital city of the Hittite Empire, today in the Çorum Province, Turkey.
- Boğazköy MuseumThe Boğazköy Museum in Boğazkale displays Hittite finds from Hattusa, including cuneiform tablets and the famous sphinxes returned from Germany.
- AlacahöyükAlacahöyük or Alaca Höyük (sometimes also spelled as Alacahüyük, Euyuk, or Evuk) is the site of a Neolithic and Hittite settlement and is an important archaeological site.
- BüyükkaleBüyükkale (Turkish for big castle) is a rocky ridge in the Hittite capital Ḫattuša, located in modern-day Turkey. It was inhabited from the late 3rd millennium BC during the early Bronze Age through to the Roman period.