“Broken Castle” Population: 187,000
Expect no “broken castle” in Broken Castle. Instead, Kırıkkale is a modern town of concrete high-rises lying to the east of Ankara. It developed rapidly from the 1950s, first as a steel-making town and then as a chemical-making one. Its name probably derives from the unromantic amalgamation of two village names, Kırık and Kale.
Most people drive from Ankara to Cappadocia via Aksaray but if you want to take the less obvious route via Kırşehir, Hacıbektaş and Gülşehir the road south starts at Kırıkkale.
