Hamamönü

Hamamönü was a run-down quarter of derelict timber houses below the citadel until the municipality restored it through the 2000s, and the result is the most-visited old district in the capital: several streets of two-storey Ottoman houses in ochre, red and white with overhanging upper floors, now occupied by craft workshops - marbling, calligraphy, felt, ceramics, silver, weaving - along with cafés, tea gardens in courtyards, and a few small museums. The Hacettepe hamam that gives the quarter its name is at its centre, and the Karacabey complex, the Mehmet Akif Ersoy house museum and a run of restored mosques are within it. Restoration was thorough enough that some critics call it over-restored, and there is a fair case: the houses look newer than their age and the district functions as a curated leisure area rather than a lived-in quarter. It is pleasant regardless, and it is where Ankara takes visitors.

What to look for

• The painted houses - restored Ottoman timber frontages.
• The craft workshops - marbling, calligraphy, felt and silver.
• The courtyard cafés - tea gardens between the streets.
• The Ersoy house - the poet's home as a museum.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Weekday afternoons are calm; weekends fill with families from across the city.

What to expect

It is heavily restored and reads as new in places - visitors after untouched fabric should know that. Workshops are commercial. Prices in the cafés are above the surrounding city.

Nearby

Ankara Citadel and the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations are north; Kızılay and the modern centre are south.

Key facts