Ankara Castle to gain new appeal with three museums

ANKARA

Ankara Castle, one of the capital’s most prominent historical landmarks, is set to strengthen its position as a tourism hub with the addition of three new museums planned for the area.

The projects have been selected for support under the “2025 Ankara New Museums Financial Support Program,” implemented by the Ankara Development Agency with contributions from the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. Contracts for the selected museum initiatives were signed at a ceremony held at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

The event was attended by Ankara Development Agency Secretary-General Duhan Kalkan, Ankara Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Erhan Karakaya, along with project owners and officials whose applications qualified for funding.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kalkan said Ankara Castle was among the capital’s most visited areas and highlighted the cultural objectives outlined in the 2024–2028 Regional Plan. One of the key goals, he noted, is to implement projects that bring Ankara’s historical and cultural heritage to the forefront.

“In this context, we issued a call to develop museum activities in the Ankara Castle area. We received 20 applications, many of which proposed strong and creative museum concepts,” Kalkan said. “Following evaluations by a professional team, three projects clearly stood out.”

Kalkan also underlined the significance of this year for Ankara, noting that global attention would be focused on the city due to the NATO summit and Ankara’s designation as the Tourism Capital of the Turkic World.

“We want to keep visitors in the castle area for longer and better showcase Ankara’s spiritual and historical richness through year-round events,” he said, stressing that the Ankara Development Agency operates as a supporting institution rather than an implementing one. He emphasized the importance of cooperation with stakeholders, particularly the provincial directorate of culture and tourism.

“We hope to come together again for the museum openings. With these new museums, and others to follow, we aim to host both local and international visitors to Ankara in a much stronger way,” Kalkan added.

Karakaya said the goal was to bring the museums into operation within the year, adding that further sites could be opened to tourism in the near future.

“This area is one of Ankara’s most valuable zones. We believe the capital will achieve the level it deserves in tourism as well,” he said.

The program concluded with a signing ceremony for the museum projects selected for financial support.