Polatlı

The monument was built in 1973 on a wooded hill just north of the centre. You enter through a military cemetery: turn right for the museum, which exhibits photos and documents from the battle. Then a stairway between 21 pairs of slabs – one for each day and night of the battle – takes you to the flat top of the hill; the stairway is said to symbolize the unknown fate the battle would bring and the relief at its end. On the summit is the main statue of three figures.

Mehmetçik is the Turkish Tommy, the salt-of-the-earth soldier who stands his watch then stoically marches out to face his fate. This 22-m tall Mehmetçik in his 1921-style uniform signals "stop!" on Kartaltepe hill, where the Greeks were halted. There is a museum on site, and the visitor centre of the national park.

Duatepe was another strategic stronghold on elevated ground. It's now the site of the most extensive set of statues commemorating the battle, including one inspired by a photo of Kemal Atatürk taken while he was observing the battleground on a pair of binoculars.

This large settlement was the chief city of the Phrygians, and previously a stronghold of the Hittites. It suffered a devastating fire in 800 BC but was rebuilt, only losing its importance under Cimmerian / Persian rule from 540 BC. Its three sites are visited on the same ticket.

The war against Greece was won as much through logistics as by battlefield heroics. Malıköy was the logistics centre and railhead, where ammo and other essentials were transferred onto donkey carts, or backs of the women. The museum displays various transport used during the campaign, including a German-made steam locomotive and a biplane.

Converted to a museum in 1968, this farmhouse served as the military headquarters of the frontline. You'll be lucky to find it open.