Ankara Castle and the Old Town: A Walking Guide to Ulus

In short: Ankara’s oldest quarter climbs from Ulus up to the citadel. In about half a day you can walk past a 3rd-century Roman bath, the Column of Julian, the Temple of Augustus and Rome with the best-preserved copy of the emperor’s own account of his reign, the 15th-century Hacı Bayram Mosque, and up to Ankara Castle, then down to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Last checked: 11 November 2026. Opening hours: check before you go. We don’t list prices.

Suggested walking route

1. Roman Baths on Çankırı Caddesi
2. Column of Julian
3. Temple of Augustus and Rome and Hacı Bayram Mosque, side by side
4. Up to Ankara Castle: the Alaeddin Mosque, the walls and the views
5. Down past Çengelhan and the Erimtan Museum to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

1. The Roman Baths

• A 3rd-century AD bath complex built under the emperor Caracalla and dedicated to Asclepius, on Çankırı Caddesi in Ulus.
• You can trace the classic sequence of rooms: changing room (apodyterium), cold room (frigidarium), warm room (tepidarium) and hot room (caldarium). The warm and hot rooms are unusually large, a sign of Ankara’s cold winters.
• Remains of the earlier Phrygian settlement lie below, and an open-air display of tombstones and inscriptions surrounds the site.

2. The Column of Julian

A Roman column about 15 m high, linked to the visit of Emperor Julian to Ankara in 362 AD.

3. The Temple of Augustus and Rome

• Built in the reign of Augustus, on the site of an earlier Phrygian temple.
• Its walls carry the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, Augustus’s own account of his deeds, in Latin and in Greek. The original bronze text in Rome is lost, which makes Ankara’s copy the most complete to survive.
• It stands right next to Hacı Bayram Mosque.

4. Hacı Bayram Mosque

• Built in the 15th century and named after Hacı Bayram Veli, a Sufi and founder of the Bayramiye order, whose tomb is beside it.
• “Hacı Bayram Mosque and its surrounding area” has been on UNESCO’s Tentative List since 2016.

5. Ankara Castle

• The citadel has an inner and an outer ring of walls; the inner walls date from the 7th century AD.
• Look out for ancient stones reused in the walls and houses, including column drums and inscriptions.
• The 12th-century Seljuk Alaeddin Mosque stands at the entrance to the inner citadel.
• Ankara’s first museum opened here in 1921, in the Akkale bastion.

6. Museums below the citadel

• Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum: in a restored Ottoman caravanserai opposite the citadel, with transport, science, carpets and an Atatürk section.
• Erimtan Archaeology and Arts Museum: the private collection of Yüksel Erimtan, which also hosts concerts.
• Museum of Anatolian Civilizations: the highlight of any visit to Ankara.

Sources we checked (November 2026): Daily Sabah: a half-day walk in Ulus · Wikipedia: Ankara Castle · Lonely Planet: Ankara Citadel · Wikipedia: Temple of Augustus and Rome · Turkish Archaeological News: UNESCO Tentative List · Hürriyet Daily News: new UNESCO tentative sites · Wikipedia: Hacı Bayram Mosque · Lonely Planet: Hacı Bayram Mosque · Wikipedia: Roman Baths of Ankara · Lonely Planet: Roman Baths · Wikipedia: Column of Julian · Wikipedia: Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum · Lonely Planet: Rahmi M. Koç Museum · Wikipedia: Erimtan Museum · Lonely Planet: Erimtan Museum · Ministry museums portal: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

Ankara old town: questions

Header photo: Ankara Castle. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).