Between about 1600 and 1200 BC, one of the great powers of the ancient world ruled from a town on a rocky slope in the middle of Turkey. Hattusha, the capital of the Hittites, covered a huge area of ridges and ravines, ringed by walls that run for several kilometres over hilltops, with gates guarded by stone lions, a sphinx and a warrior. The Lion Gate and the King's Gate, with its carved figure of a god or king in a short kilt, are the best known, and the Great Temple, a ruined complex of storerooms and shrine rooms, is among the most evocative sites in Anatolia.
The Hittites were not Greeks or Egyptians, which is why they were forgotten until the nineteenth century. Excavations in the early twentieth century uncovered thousands of clay tablets in cuneiform, which included a copy of the treaty signed after the Battle of Kadesh with Egypt, often described as the oldest surviving peace treaty. The empire collapsed around 1180 BC in the great upheavals of the late Bronze Age, and the city was burned and abandoned. UNESCO listed the site in 1986.
The ruins are spread out, so a circular road takes you from one group to the next, about five kilometres in all, with parking areas at the main points. Walking is better than riding between them, because the slopes are steep, but you can ride the loop and leave the bike at each stop. A few kilometres away, the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya has carvings of a procession of gods in the open-air chambers, one of the most moving sites in the country. The stone is soft, and the figures, shown in profile in pointed hats, march along the wall toward their meeting.
The countryside here is open, dry and quiet. The nearest towns with fuel and services are Alaca and Sungurlu, each about twenty-five kilometres away, with Yozgat a little further, so fill the tank beforehand. Boğazkale village has a couple of small restaurants and pensions, but nothing grand. Go in spring, when the hills are green and wildflowers cover the slopes, or early autumn, and bring a hat, since there is little shade among the ruins.