Hattusas, otherwise called “
Boğazköy” is within the boundaries of
Çorum.
Hattusas, known as the capitol of the
Great Hittite Empire and
Yazılıkaya were first discovered in 1834. Between 1835-1894 individual studies were carried out by several foreign archaeologists and from 1906 on excavation works were started by the
German Archaeology Institute and the
German Eastern Cultures Research Center. Four gates on the 7 km long city wall and temples from
Hittite period inside the wall were unearthed. The excavations which were interrupted for a while started again in 1931. The studies are still being carried out. The first settlements In
Boğazköy which was declared as
National Park in 1998 date back to the
Calcholitic Age.
Büyükkale was the actual center of
Hattusas which was included in the
Hittite territory after the
First Bronze Age. In the excavations carried out in
Büyükkale and
Yazılıkaya temples tablets with cuneiform inscriptions and seals covering a broad segment from the Early Hittite period until Late Hittite Period (2000 BC – 9th and 6th centuries BC) were found. The Great temple is situated in the Lower City. The Open Temple in
Yazılıkaya is also one of the most important places of the Hittite Civilization. The tablets found here shed light on history. After the
Hittites, the region was ruled by the
Phyrigs,
Meds,
Ghalats,
Romans and
Byzantines. The opuses found here during the
archaeological studies are displayed in
Boğazkale Museum. The museum which was opened on 12 September 1966 is a local museum where monuments found during the
Boğazköy (
Hattusas) excavations and those gathered from the neighbourhood are displayed and stored. In the museum where opuses mainly coming from the
Hittite period are displayed, opuses from the
Old Bronze,
Phrygian,
Roman and
Byzantine period are displayed as well.
