The Yer Kapı is Hattuşa's most impressive gate, with an artificial mound pierced by a 70m-long tunnel. The Hittites built the tunnel using a corbelled arch (two flat faces of stones leaning towards one another), as the 'true' arch was not invented until later.
Primitive or not, the arch of Yer Kapi has done its job for millennia, and you can still pass down the stony tunnel as Hittite soldiers did, emerging from the postern. Afterwards, re-enter the city via one of the monumental stairways up the wide stone glacis and pass through the Sphinx Gate , once defended by four great sphinxes. One is still in situ, two are in the Boğazkale museum and the other has been lost. There are wonderful views over the upper city temple district from here.
