Ankara

Ankara historically known as Ancyra and Angora is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 4.5 million in its urban centre and over 5.6 million in Ankara Province making it Turkey’s second-largest city after Istanbul.It lies about 125 miles (200 km) south of the Black Sea, near the confluence of the Hatip, Ince Su, and Cubek streams.

While the date of the city’s foundation is uncertain, archaeological evidence indicates habitation at least since the Stone Age, and a thriving Phrygian town was located in the area at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Alexander the Great conquered Ankara in 333 BCE, and in the 3rd century BCE the town served as the capital of the Tectosages, a tribe of Galatia (the ancient name for the region around Ankara). In 25 BCE Ankara was incorporated into the Roman Empire by the emperor Augustus.

As a city of the Byzantine Empire, Ankara was attacked by both the Persians and the Arabs. About 1073 Ankara fell to the Seljuq Turks, but the Crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse drove them out again in 1101. The Byzantines, however, were unable to maintain their control, and Ankara became a bone of contention between the Seljuqs and their rivals among the Turkish frontier lords. After 1143, Seljuq princes fought among themselves for possession of the city. With the establishment of the Seljuq empire, Ankara declined.