World Heritage Identification Number: 377
World Heritage since: 1986
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Buildings & Architectural Ensembles
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇹🇷 Türkiye
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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Hattusha: A Glimpse into the Ancient Hittite Civilization
The archaeological site of Hattusha, located near modern Boğazkale in Turkey, offers a captivating window into the ancient Hittite civilization that thrived in Anatolia and northern Syria during the second millennium BCE. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, Hattusha, formerly known as Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, served as the capital of the Hittite Empire during two distinct periods.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The archaeological site of Hattusha, former capital of the Hittite Empire, is notable for its urban organization, the types of construction that have been preserved (temples, royal residences, fortifications), the rich ornamentation of the Lions' Gate and the Royal Gate, and the ensemble of rock art at Yazilikaya. The city enjoyed considerable influence in Anatolia and northern Syria in the 2nd millennium B.C.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): The city’s fortifications, along with the Lions’ Gate, the Royal Gate and the Yazılıkaya rupestral ensemble and its sculptured friezes, represent unique artistic achievements.
Criterion (ii): Hattusha exerted a dominating influence upon the civilizations of the 2nd and 1st millennia B.C. in Anatolia and northern Syria.
Criterion (iii): The palaces, temples, trading quarters and necropolis of this political and religious metropolis provide a comprehensive picture of a Hittite capital and bear a unique testimony to the now extinct Hittite civilization.
Criterion (iv): Several types of buildings or architectural ensembles are perfectly preserved in Hattusha: the royal residence, the temples and the fortifications.
Encyclopedia Record: Hattusa
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey within the great loop of the Kızılırmak River.Additional Site Details
Area: 268.46 hectares
Number of Components: 4
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 40.01389 , 34.62056
Image
© Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
