Kırıkkale: Bridges and Shrines on the Kızılırmak

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1. What is Kırıkkale?
2. How do you get to Kırıkkale?
3. Where should you stay in Kırıkkale?
4. What type of climate does Kırıkkale have?
5. When is the best time to visit Kırıkkale?
6. What is the history of Kırıkkale?
7. What is Kırıkkale famous for?
8. What are the historical places of Kırıkkale?
9. What are the best things to do in Kırıkkale?
10. What are the best places to visit in Kırıkkale?
11. Frequently asked questions about Kırıkkale
12. What do the official records say about Kırıkkale?

What is Kırıkkale?

Kırıkkale is a small province in Central Anatolia, just east of Ankara, and also the name of its capital, an industrial city on the Kızılırmak, the longest river flowing entirely within Türkiye. Most travellers know it only as a name on the motorway or rail line from Ankara to Kayseri and Sivas, and the province itself is frank about this: its 2002 tourism inventory opens by saying that Kırıkkale, important to the country’s industry since the first years of the Republic, does not have a particularly strong tourism potential.

That is a fair starting point, but not the whole picture. The Kızılırmak valley runs through the province with a 13th-century Seljuk bridge across it, the hills around Keskin hold Roman rock tombs, and the villages keep a ring of dervish shrines (Hasandede, Haydar Sultan, Koçubaba, Şeyh Şami) that are still visited by pilgrims from across Central Anatolia. The inventory lists the kinds of tourism found here as cultural, faith, eco and sports tourism.

Kırıkkale works best as a day out from Ankara or a stop on the way east: one day for the city’s arms museum, Hasandede and the iron bridge at Yahşihan, and another for the Çeşnigir Bridge and the Keskin area.

Places to visit in Kırıkkale

Çeşnigir Bridge

Çeşnigir Bridge in Kırıkkale: the 13th-century Seljuk bridge over the Kızılırmak, its…

Hasandede Mosque and Tombs

Hasandede in Kırıkkale: the 1605 mosque and 17th-century tombs of the dervish…

Haydar Sultan Complex

Haydar Sultan in Keskin, Kırıkkale: a dervish shrine over a possible Byzantine…

How do you get to Kırıkkale?

By air: Kırıkkale has no airport. The nearest is Ankara Esenboğa Airport, north of Ankara, which has domestic flights from across Türkiye and international connections. From Esenboğa it is roughly an hour by road; alternatively go into Ankara and take a train or bus east.

By rail: Kırıkkale YHT station is on the Ankara–Sivas high-speed line, 76 km from Ankara by rail. It opened to passenger service on 26 April 2023, together with Yozgat. The city is also on the older Ankara–Kayseri main line.

By road: The city is about 80 km east of Ankara on the main highway towards Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat, Çorum and the Black Sea. Buses and minibuses run frequently from Ankara’s AŞTİ bus station. To reach the Çeşnigir Bridge, Keskin or the shrine villages you need a car or a taxi; local minibus services exist but are built around residents, not visitors.

Where should you stay in Kırıkkale?

The choice is limited to business hotels in the city centre, used mostly by people visiting the industrial plants and Kırıkkale University. Many visitors base themselves in Ankara instead, where the range is far wider, and drive or take the high-speed train out for the day.

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What type of climate does Kırıkkale have?

Kırıkkale has the steppe climate of the Anatolian plateau: hot, dry summers and cold, moderately snowy winters, with most rain in spring and autumn. Annual rainfall is under 400 mm. The record high is 42.0°C, set in August 2023, and winter nights can fall far below freezing. The Kızılırmak valley is a little milder and greener than the bare uplands around it.

When is the best time to visit Kırıkkale?

May, June and September to mid-October are the most comfortable months. Spring brings green fields and wild flowers to the Kızılırmak valley, which the inventory points to as an area for botanical study. September is also the month of the province’s local festivals: the 2002 inventory lists harvest and culture festivals in Sulakyurt, Karakeçili, Çelebi, Keskin and Balışeyh, and a Hasandede culture festival in October. Dates change from year to year, so check locally.

High summer is hot on the open plateau, and winter fog and snow can make rural roads slow.

What is the history of Kırıkkale?

The land around Kırıkkale has been crossed and settled for thousands of years, and traces survive from many periods. Near Keskin, the provincial culture and tourism directorate records the Ceritkale rock tombs, Roman-period tombs, quarries and rock-cut rooms in a valley about 3 km from Ceritkale village, and links the caves of the village to earlier Hittite-era reliefs of bulls and lions. Near Kalekışla village in Sulakyurt are wall remains of an early fortification on a high hill, and the Gavurevi ruins, in a deep valley in the Karaboğaz area, are dated to the Roman period.

The Kızılırmak was the main obstacle for anyone moving east–west across this part of Anatolia, and the crossing at Çeşnigir is the clearest record of that. According to known sources, the inventory says, the bridge and the han beside it belonged to the Seljuks and probably date from the 13th century. It is said that Timur’s army used the bridge in 1402 on its way to the Battle of Ankara, and that it was later rebuilt by Mimar Sinan during Yavuz Sultan Selim’s Egyptian campaign. A local legend at Yahşihan tells the same story from the other side: a force led by a son or grandson of Sultan Bayezid I rested in the hans here during the Battle of Ankara, called the place “the beautiful han” (yahşi han), and the name stuck.

From the 13th century Turkmen dervishes settled in the area, and many of today’s villages grew around their lodges. Hasandede, Haydar Sultan, Koçubaba and Sulakyurt (founded, local tradition says, by Şeyh Şami) all began this way. Evliya Çelebi passed through in the 17th century and described Koçubaba’s underground houses.

The modern city is a creation of the Republic. Kırıkkale was a village, its name usually explained as a combination of nearby Kırık village and kale (castle). During the War of Independence the rail line through Yahşihan carried ammunition to Ankara, and in the 1920s the new state chose the area for its arms and ammunition factories, later run by Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE). Steel works followed in the 1950s, chemical plants in the 1960s and the Tüpraş refinery in 1986. In 1989 Kırıkkale was separated from Ankara Province and became a province in its own right.

What is Kırıkkale famous for?

The arms industry. For most Turks the name Kırıkkale means MKE and the factories that made the Republic’s rifles and ammunition. The company’s weapons museum is the most direct way to see that history.

The Kızılırmak crossings. The Seljuk-era Çeşnigir Bridge and the iron bridge at Yahşihan, which the provincial directorate describes as the first iron bridge in Anatolia, mark two very different ages of travel across the same river.

Dervish shrines. The province’s faith tourism rests on a cluster of tombs of Turkmen saints, several of them tied by tradition to Ahmed Yesevi and the Bektashi order.

What are the historical places of Kırıkkale?

Weapons Museum (Silah Müzesi). Inside the MKE arms company (Silahsan) in the city, the museum opened in 1991. It shows Ottoman and European weapons from the 15th to the 20th century, with their technical and historical features; the pieces were collected from Tophane, from different parts of Anatolia and from the military factories. As it sits within an industrial site, confirm visiting arrangements with the provincial culture and tourism directorate before going.

Çeşnigir Bridge. The 110-metre Seljuk bridge over the Kızılırmak, now open to pedestrians only. See our Çeşnigir Bridge guide.

Yahşihan Iron Bridge and station. The iron bridge across the Kızılırmak at Yahşihan was commissioned under Sultan Abdülhamid II and completed in the early 1900s by German engineers; during the War of Independence ammunition crossed it on the way to Ankara. Yahşihan’s station building of 1924 is a typical early-Republican design.

Ceritkale rock tombs. Roman-period rock tombs, quarries and rock-cut rooms on the east-facing slopes of a valley southwest of Keskin.

Hasandede and Haydar Sultan. Two village shrine complexes with mosques, tombs and long traditions of pilgrimage. See the Hasandede Mosque and Tombs and Haydar Sultan Complex pages.

Şeyh Şami Mosque and Tomb, Sulakyurt. The mosque in the centre of Sulakyurt was built by Şeyh Şami, founder of the town. It has been damaged at different times, and repairs have partly erased its original architecture. Evliya Çelebi wrote that Şeyh Şami’s real name was Hamza and that he belonged to the Bayrami order and was a man of miracles.

Ballı Mosque, Balışeyh. The inventory notes that its ceiling carries the characteristic features of woodwork. The directorate dates the building to the 15th–16th century from its architecture, as it has no inscription; between the wooden posts that divide the naves, the ceiling is painted with classical Seljuk motifs.

Koçubaba Tomb. In Koçubaba village, now in Balışeyh district. The directorate records that Koçubaba, whose real name was Seyit Han Ata, was a Turkmen sage associated with Bektashi teaching; the tomb has no inscription but its architecture points to the 14th–15th century.

What are the best things to do in Kırıkkale?

• Walk across the Çeşnigir Bridge. Closed to cars since 1989, it is now a quiet footpath over the Kızılırmak.
• Fish the Kapulukaya reservoir. The inventory notes that amateur line fishing is done on the Kapulukaya Dam lake and along the Kızılırmak valley.
• Cycle, hike or ride in the Kızılırmak valley. The inventory describes the valley as suitable for cycling tours, mountain and nature walks and horseback trekking, and as a place for botanical study.
• Visit the nature parks. The provincial directorate promotes the Dinek Mountain horse-safari and nature park, Karaahmetli Nature Park and a lavender valley among the province’s outdoor sights.
• Join a festival. The September and October festivals in the district towns, from Delice’s grape festival to Sulakyurt’s melon and watermelon festival, are the liveliest time to visit villages.

What are the best places to visit in Kırıkkale?

Çeşnigir Bridge is a 13th-century Seljuk bridge of twelve arches over the Kızılırmak, said to have been crossed by Timur’s army and rebuilt by Mimar Sinan.

Hasandede Mosque and Tombs, 12 km from the city, is a mosque of 1605 with the 17th-century tombs of the dervish Hasandede and his family, the centre of an annual festival.

Haydar Sultan Complex, near Keskin, is a shrine complex at the foot of the Böyrek Mountains, built over what may have been a Late Roman or Early Byzantine monastery, with the bubbling “Deliler Kuyusu” well.

Also worth your time: the MKE Weapons Museum, the iron bridge at Yahşihan, the Ceritkale rock tombs and the Şeyh Şami Mosque at Sulakyurt. Ankara’s museums and the Hittite capital at Hattuşa are within easy reach.

Frequently asked questions about Kırıkkale

What do the official records say about Kırıkkale?

Kırıkkale, which has held an important place in the country’s industry since the first years of the Republic, does not have such a strong potential in terms of tourism. Apart from the weapons museum founded by M.K.E.K., no archaeology and ethnography museum, which would be important for cultural tourism, has yet been established in the province. The types of tourism seen in the province are cultural tourism, faith tourism, eco-tourism and sports tourism. The province’s tourism potential needs to be developed as far as possible.

The Kızılırmak valley, with its rich natural setting, is a place suited to various nature sports. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Kırıkkale Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)