Ankara - Atatürk Bulvari

This wide tree-lined thoroughfare, Ankara's main traffic artery and principal shopping street, runs for 5km/3mi from north to south linking the Old City (Ulus Meydani) and New Town. At day's end the section between Lozan Meydani (Lausanne Square) and Ismet Inönü Meydani is crowded with people taking the evening air. South of Ulus Meydani both sides of the boulevard are lined with public buildings including the opera house, the Turkish broadcasting corporation, the university, as well as banks and insurance company offices. The New Town proper begins south of the railroad viaduct at Lozan Meydani. Here there is a huge replica of a "sundisc", one of the famous Hittite ritual "standards" discovered at Alacahüyük, examples of which are on display in the Hittite Museum. From the square an extensive pedestrian precinct with restaurants and shops, mainly on the left of the road, stretches parallel with the Atatürk Bulvari to well beyond Kizilay Meydani. Immediately southwest of the square lies the government quarter, with fine buildings housing various government departments and ministries. Most were designed between 1928 and 1935 by the German architect Clemens Holzmeister. Above them towers the Turkish Parliament building (viewing possible) on the Ismet Inönü Bulvari. Further up the hill are the districts of Kavaklidere, where many foreign countries have their embassies, and Çankaya, a residential area in which are located the Presidential Palace (Cumhurbaskanligi Köskü, built by Holzmeister in 1932) and the Atatürk Evi.