Çankırı is located in the Paphlagonia Region, which was in between Bithynia and Pontus in ancient times and it was known as “Gangra”. The earliest written source mentioning the name Gangra was by Eratosthenes, an ancient geographer who lived in the 3rd century BCE. The name Gangra is a local Anatolian name being used from the classical period to the Luwian period. However, during the Ottoman period, the ancient name of the city was preserved and used as Kangırı or Kângarı.
The archaeological studies in Çankırı revealed that there has been an uninterrupted settlement since the Paleolithic Period; and many artefacts reflecting different periods (600000-12000 CE) have been found.
Approximately one and a half hours away from the capital Ankara, the city Çankırı has all kinds of nature sports opportunities, such as camping, caravan, hiking, climbing, cycling, photography, and hunting. Its mountains, covered with snow throughout half of the year, as well as its forests and plateaus and rich thermal springs have been themes to poems. In addition to these, the city have a few fascinating sites like Tuz Cave (Tuz Mağarası), the artifacts from the Hittites to Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods, cultural values that have been kept alive for centuries, warm-hearted people, and their traditional hospitality.
The city’s cafés and restaurants in the center, shopping malls and historical places are well worth seeing.