Hittite Sun Course Monument

About Hittite Sun Course Monument

Hittite Sun Course Monument is a large public sculpture in Sıhhiye Lozan Square, central Ankara. Its form enlarges a Hatti religious-ritual object discovered during excavations at Alacahöyük, transforming a small archaeological design into a civic landmark encountered amid roads, buildings and everyday city movement. The composition is recognised by its circular sun imagery, radiating elements and stylised animal figures. Installed and opened in 1978, it was the final work of sculptor Nusret Suman. The combination of ancient Hatti symbolism, twentieth-century Turkish sculpture and a prominent Ankara setting gives the monument its particular character. It is a place to read history at public scale, rather than an enclosed archaeological display.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

What's inside

There is no interior gallery or room to enter at the monument. Visitors experience it outdoors, viewing the freestanding sculpture from pedestrian areas around Sıhhiye Lozan Square. Look closely at how the enlarged sun-course composition is read against the scale of central Ankara: radiating lines and animal forms become an urban silhouette rather than a small museum object. The archaeological original is 24 centimetres high and is kept at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. That museum offers close-scale context; the square offers the striking contrast of an ancient design reinterpreted as a large civic work. Together, the two locations make the relationship between original artefact and public monument easier to understand.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

How long to spend

Allow about 20 to 30 minutes for a focused visit. This gives you time to approach through the square, find a safe viewing position, walk around the pedestrian area, study the sculpture from several angles and take photographs. It is a compact urban landmark rather than a destination requiring a full afternoon. If you continue to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations to see the 24-centimetre original, plan a separate museum visit with additional time. Families may need longer for crossings and for helping children observe the monument safely in a traffic-heavy central setting.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Season and crowds

Visit in daylight so the radiating forms, circular sun imagery and stylised animal figures remain easy to distinguish. Morning or late afternoon can make the outline more legible against the square and surrounding buildings than harsh midday light. The monument stands in an active central-Ankara junction, so the best moment is one when you can pause safely within pedestrian space and give crossings your full attention. The setting is exposed and urban, not a quiet garden or enclosed gallery. Build the stop into a daytime walk through central Ankara, when the sculpture can be seen clearly and its relationship with the city is most apparent.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Tickets

The monument is an outdoor public-space viewing stop in Sıhhiye Lozan Square. The researched place material provides no admission amount or free-entry statement for the monument, so no ticket price is recorded here. If you also visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations to see the original Hatti object, treat that as a separate venue with its own admission arrangements. The sculpture and museum should not be treated as one ticketed attraction: the monument is the outdoor stop, while the museum provides the close archaeological viewing experience.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Getting there

Take Ankara Metro M1 and leave the train at Sıhhiye station, then continue on foot towards nearby Sıhhiye Lozan Square. The official line runs through Batıkent, Ostim, Demetevler, Yenimahalle, Ulus, Sıhhiye and Kızılay. EGO buses also serve the area, including route 530 between Etimesgut, Ümitköy Metro Station, Kızılay, Sıhhiye and Ulus. The final approach is through a busy central urban setting, so allow time for pedestrian crossings before reaching the monument. Its location makes it practical to combine the sculpture with other central Ankara stops, including the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations if you want to compare the public-scale reproduction with the original.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

What to watch out for

Treat Sıhhiye Lozan Square as a traffic-heavy urban junction. Stay in pedestrian areas, use marked crossings and keep children close while approaching or photographing the monument. The sculpture is exposed to the surrounding movement of central Ankara, so pause only where you have a clear and safe position. Visitors with mobility needs should assess the actual surfaces and crossings on arrival; the available place material does not establish a dedicated step-free route to the monument. The setting rewards attention to traffic and footing before attention turns to the sculpture’s details.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Photography

Begin with a wide photograph that places the monument inside Sıhhiye Lozan Square, then move only within safe pedestrian areas for closer compositions. The circular sun design, radiating lines and stylised animal figures are the details that separate this work from an ordinary civic sculpture. Daylight helps distinguish the forms, while changing position shows how the monument sits against Ankara’s roads and buildings. Do not step onto a traffic island or carriageway to improve an angle. Photograph the public-scale work here, then compare it with the 24-centimetre original at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations for a useful sense of scale and transformation.

Checked 2026-09-02 · Source

Where it is

• 1 hour

  3 min walk

  Abdi İpekçi Park

  • High
  • Nature site
• 1 hour

  3 min walk

  Marshal Atatürk Monument

  • Notable
  • Art and culture venue
• 1 hr 30 min

  9 min walk

  Ethnography Museum of Ankara

  • Must see
  • Museum

External links

• View on Wikidata