Hello my friends. I had left behind the ruins of that magnificent capital of the Hittite Empire. But a place just as mysterious as Hattusa was waiting for me. After traveling just a few kilometers, I found myself at the Yazilikaya temple. Walking down this paved path isn't just a trip to a temple. It feels like stepping right into the Hittite era. Every step felt like taking a step back into the depths of antiquity. At one time these two places were closely linked. While Hattusa was the administrative and military brain of the empire, Yazilikaya was its spiritual heart. Just like Vatican and Rome. Kings and priests likely made the short journey from that crowded capital to this quiet mountain temple quite often for the most important religious rituals.

According to one theory, Yazilikaya was the main temple where spring festivals and religious ceremonies were held. In those days thousands of people probably flocked here. Priests performed rites and the rocky walls adorned with depictions of gods formed a grand backdrop for these mystical ceremonies. They transformed the mountain pass into a massive openair temple where the boundary between the human world and the world of the gods faded away.

Yazilikaya means "inscribed rock" in Turkish. This is not simply a man made temple in the sense we know. It is a natural openair sanctuary created by nature itself and completed by the art of ancient masters. Two natural galleries formed here between two rock masses. The Hittites carved one of the most important and best preserved monuments of their religious art directly into these rock walls.

And there they are, those gazes carved into stone exactly 3200 years ago, looking right at us today.

It is impossible to fully describe the feelings that wrapped around me in this place. It felt as though I was touching something infinite. Thousands of years ago, people walked past these very rocks on these lands. Priests in their ritual robes, royals and warriors were all looking at these exact same reliefs.They breathed the same air and listened to the same wind blowing through the cliffs.

One thing that blew my mind here is how it never looks the same. The reliefs on the rocks come alive in different ways depending on the time of day and the angle of the light. They can look almost flat and merge with the rock at noon when the sun is directly overhead. But as the sun begins to sink, shadows start playing on the stones. And details invisible during the day emerge. The folds of clothing, facial features, the outlines of weapons.It felt as if the gods themselves were stepping out from the heart of the rock just to appear to those who arrive at the right moment.

Yet the most incredible part is that even when the light is not ideal and the figures fade into the twilight, simply being in this narrow rock pasage, in this sacred space, inspires an incomparable sense of mystery.

Standing among these frozen stone gods, it is very hard to imagine that the entire world once forgot this place. The Hittite Empire fell. The capital Hattusa was abandoned and slowly buried in the soil. As for the Yazılıkaya Temple, it sat hidden under layers of history and thick vegetation, sound asleep for almost 3000 years.

As our guide explained, the first European to discover these ruins and grasp their immense value was the French traveler and architect Charles Texier. This happened in 1834. Just imagine his astonishment. He was not actualy looking for a Hittite temple. At that time knowledge about the Hittite Empire was limited to brief mentions in the Bible and its scale was unknown. Texier was exploring Central Anatolia, following rumors of ancient ruins. So he was essentially walking in the dark until he found this place.

And the local people brought him to this location. Texier saw not just rocks with obscure drawings on them, but a grand monument featuring dozens of figures whose style resembled neither Greek, nor Egyptian, nor any other known civilization. It was a complete sensation. Texier drew them and published them in Europe. His reports sparked immense interest and long debates among scholars. Who made these reliefs? Which civilization could have built such a thing?

The answer did not come immediately. It took decades of archaeological work, the decipherment of cuneiform. And finall the excavation of Hattusa to definitively link Yazilikaya to the Great Hittite Empire.

Texier's discovery became a key that helped open the door to a whole forgotten world.

Reliefs of the gods of the underworld. In Hittite mythology they were fast, elusive messengers. Warriors of the dark capable of piercing through their enemies in an instant. They lined up like a guard of honor accompanying the procession of the great gods. Standing across from them, I could almost physically feel their agile energy and their ancient, somewhat chilling power.

The hand that carved these figures touched this stone back when there were only marshes where Rome now sits, back when the first legends about the Trojan War were only just being writen. And that creates a strange feeling in a person, a sense of connection. You find yourself standing in the very same place where Hittite priests, kings and warriors stood all those centuries ago. You breathe the same air, staring at the same mountain ridge along the horizon. And these silent rocks become a bridge, bringing you face to face for a second with a world that faded into history. It’s both magical and really humbling at the same time.

Not every line is clear, but you just know they're standing right there. We are face to face with depictions of Hittite gods whose names and power were worshipped thousands of years ago. Their unseen presence fills this place. This isn't just an ancient ruin anymore. It’s a portal where time loses its grip and eternity becomes tangible.

International researchers recently found that these reliefs depict the whole Hittite cosmos, showing their creation story of moving from Chaos to Order. Just like the infinite cycle of life and death, the carvings serve as an ancient calendar, keeping track of days, months and seasons. According to a recent study, the temple was a symbolic representation of how the Hittites viewed the cosmos.

Right beside the temple lies a really beautiful and mysterious forest. Yazılıkaya was a sacred place for the Hittites. So the forest and rocks surrounding the temple were believed tobe home to spirits and gods. Hittite beliefs suggest that rituals honoring the Sun Goddess Arinna, the Storm God Teshub and other gods were probably held right in this spot.

And local legends tell that the gods came down to these very forests and caves to meet with humans. In both Hittite and later Phrygian myths, the forests around sacred areas were thought to be home to nymphs, satyrs and other legendary creatures. Similar beliefs likely existed around Yazilikaya as well. Certain trees were held sacred and left completely alone, never to be cut down. instead they were decorated with ribbons and offerings.

Local stories link Yazılıkaya to ancient kings and heroes who supposedly hid out in these woods during wartime or came here to get prophecies straight from the gods. There are stories that priests and rulers held secret meetings in these areas and that the forest provided natural protection against external threats.

Yazilikaya allows us, the people of the 21st century, to look into the eyes of our amazingly distant ancestors for a brief moment.

My journey to the sacred places of the Hittites came to an end. I decided to take a piece of this amazing place with us by buying a small stone souvenir to remind me of this mystical adventure in the world of the Hittites and Hattusa. Who knows, maybe I will return here someday. I would certainly love to go back.

We had a long road ahead of us. As you can imagine, I had plenty of time to process what I saw and dream up new adventures. Exploring it all was wonderful, of course.