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Municipality in Turkey
Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Çankırı is a city in Central Anatolia, about 140 km north of Ankara. It's industrial and modern, but lying on a trade route across the Anatolian plateau, has several old buildings of interest. You might break a journey to the Black Sea here. In 2020 the city population was 87,589, with another 10,000 or so living in the surrounding province.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Grand Mosque
This mosque was built from 1522-1558, it's not known why it took so long. It has a rich interior and was restored in 1992 and again in the 21st century.
A 17th century Islamic seminary, nowadays a cultural centre demonstrating the Ottoman arts of paper marbling and calligraphy.
Wheat Market Madrassa
In the courtyard of Buğday Pazarı Mosque, this is a two-storey wooden 18th century building. It's now a craft centre for traditional clothing and kitchenware.
Ramshackle collection of radio and telecoms equipment.
The castle is on an outcrop above the city; the Romans fortified it by reflex, but there was probably a bastion much earlier on such a defensive site. A glass balcony juts out for panoramas of town.
Salt caves
This area has been mined for salt for 5000 years. Some of the old tunnels have been turned into a show-cave museum, where it's cold even in mid-summer.
Smart clean hotel with pleasant rooftop dining room.
Çankırı is 140 km north of Ankara, a 90 min drive across the windswept Anatolian steppes, with some remarkable views of eroded hillsides watching the highway from a distance.
Read in the guideThe central sites are close enough to walk around. You need your own wheels to reach the salt caves.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Ankara · International · ESB
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