Yazılıkaya Open Air Temple
The most impressive holy place of Hattusha is Yazılıkaya Open-Air Temple, hidden among high cliffs located a little outside of the city. In this open-air temple, which was used for the New Year celebrations of the period, the important gods and goddesses of the country were carved in relief on the rock in rows. Yazilikaya, which can be visited in two sections, rooms A and B, reflects the Hittite pantheon with its magnificent rock descriptions. Yazılıkaya, which was accepted as the national temple of the Hittite Empire, was isolated from the outside world with a wall during the first construction period; III of the second phase and reliefs in the Great Gallery. Hattusili, the Tudhaliya relief in the Great Gallery, the Small Gallery and the IV of the third phase of the temple. It is thought to have been built during the Tudhaliya period. The national temple of the Hittite Empire, today called Yazılıkaya, is located two kilometers northeast of Hattusa. In front of this cult area, which is an open-air temple built on natural rock, there are temple structures built later and belonging to three different periods. In the first period, a siege wall was built to isolate the rock temple from the outside world, a temple in the Hittite tradition was added together with the monumental entrance structure in the second phase, and in the third period, the eastern wing of the main building was transformed into a more useful entrance in front of the Small Gallery. In the relief of twelve underground gods, the first figures of Room A, the main subject on the back wall is the encounter of God Teshup and Goddess Hepat. At the end of the goddess figures, opposite the main stage, the biggest figure of this open-air temple is IV. There is Tuthaliya.
