Hattuşa is the Bronze Age capital of the Hittite empire constructed around 2,000 BC (a few hundred years before Tutankhamen) so without a doubt the oldest pile of old stones we've seen and amazingly it wasn't discovered until 1834 and new areas are still being excavated.
I can't pretend I took in a lot of what Göksel was telling us, so the info here will be brief and what I've managed to cobble together from the internet/guidebook. The settlement was divided into two areas, the lower and the upper city and these first ones are taken in the former.
The entrance to the Great Temple.
This is a block of nephrite, a dark green mineral which is common in the region and shaped into the form of a cube. It is supposed to have had some religious use or purpose, but what it may have been for is unknown although various possibilities have been proffered; base of a statue or, more likely, a place for religious sacrifice. Whatever its purpose, it’s the only one of its kind found here.
We like to think that touching it brings good luck.
Given what I just said you're probably not expecting many pictures - wrong! The light was superb and the countryside just wonderful - it reminded me of the North Yorkshire moors.
We then climbed up to the Upper City fortifications and firstly to the Lion Gate (reconstructed, I think), one of 3 gates.
Looking this way the scenery was more reminiscent of Tuscany.
Back to the moors.
The Earth Gate (Yer Kapi) a 3m high, 70m long tunnel dug beneath an artificial hill whose function remains unknown. Speculations include a tomb or a passage to the underworld, but the most likely explanation is that it was an entrance to a defensive fortress.
The tunnel would have been bathed in light from the floor that was once paved in white and the fact that so many centuries later you can still walk through it shows the ingenuity of the builders and architects of the time.
This is what the tunnel went under, the Hattuşa Rampart.
This photo doesn't show really the height of the steps; it was an amazingly steep climb.
So well constructed.
Sphinx Gate
King's Gate
Fortunately we didn't have to walk back down the rampart but took an easier route and managed to spot another praying mantis.
That stop was worth it just for the glorious scenery.