Alacahoyuk

North of Bogazkale on the road to Corum, was the center of the flourishing Hattian culture during the Bronze Age and an imaginary triangle which joins the most important tourist attractions, in the area around the village of Bogazkale or Bogazkoy. The spot where the ancient ruins lie was settled in early prehistory, even before the early Bronze Age, before the ancient Hittites arrived. Some hypotheses affirm that this was the site of Kussara, a city the Hittites that already established around 4000 B.C. before the capital was transferred to Hattutas. The period of greatest splendor of the Hittite empire has been identified in the second level which ranges in time from the 21st to the 13th century B.C. The archaeological finds brought to light during the excavations play an important part in the exhibitions of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara but the material installed in the local Museum and to be seen throughout the archaeological zone is also plentiful and interesting. In particular note for the tourist is the so-called Gate of Sphinxes, which leads to the remains of a vast temple structure, similar in size to the one at Bogazkoy. The gate mentioned above is actually a copy of the original which has been transferred to the Museum in Ankara.