Ulus, the old town of Ankara

This is an old post in draft. Last year, I had an off day (November 2022). I picked up my Fuji X100V and walked with my wife through the old town of Ankara, Ulus. These are the photos from that day.

Even people living in Ankara barely visit the old town. However, it's a bustling place, with decade-old bazaars, shops, and museums that carry thousands of antique artifacts.

We started our day in Ulus Hal, a bustling food market where you can find fish, fruits, vegetables, and other things.

From there, we visited a Börek (pastry) place and ate a "Kürt Böreği". Some also call it "Küt Böreği", though the correct word is "Kürt". It's sweet and salty and very delicious. Turkish tea is everywhere, so we also got tea with it.

Ulus is a bizarre and weird place. It's not modern but doesn't try to do any better. It's happy with its current state. A lot of families, generations old, trade and do business here.

We're now walking up to the Ankara Castle, rebuilt in 278 BC and renovated afterward by the many empires ruling these lands: Romans, Byzantine, Seljuk, and the Ottomans.

Ankara, being in the center of Turkey, made it also a strategic place to defend against enemy parties during the Turkish War of Independence. It was a natural choice to make it later the capital of the young country, Turkey.

Next to the castle are several museums worth visiting. That day, we chose Erimtran and the Koç Museum.

Especially at Erimtran, I was happy to see there was a temporary exhibition of Ara Güler, an Armenian-Turkish photojournalist nicknamed "the Eye of Istanbul" or "the Photographer of Istanbul."

We walked down the streets to finish our day at the Boğaziçi Restaurant.