This guided day trip from Kirşehir takes you to Kaman to discover the Kaman-Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum and the Japanese Garden beside it, one of the most unexpected and photogenic places in Central Anatolia. With hotel transfers and entrance fees included, it is an easy cultural excursion for history lovers and photographers alike.
The museum's architecture echoes the shape of the Kaman-Kalehöyük mound, a site excavated for decades by a Japanese archaeological team that has uncovered layers from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period. Covering some 1,421 square metres, the complex includes exhibition halls, a library, a restoration and conservation laboratory and an artefact repository, and your guide explains how finds from the mound reveal the long story of settlement in the Kızılırmak basin.
Next to the museum lies the Japanese Garden, created in 1993 by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan to honour the Kalehöyük excavations and regarded as one of the largest Japanese gardens outside Japan. A waterfall, ponds, stone paths and carefully pruned dwarf trees make it ideal for a relaxed photography tour, with time to frame reflections and seasonal colours. Afterwards you return to Kirşehir city centre for free time and shopping before being dropped back at your hotel at the end of this calm daily excursion.
Your full day programme — click to see every stop.
Kalehoyuk Museum Programme In the morning your guide meets you at your hotel in Kirşehir and we drive west to the town of Kaman. Our first visit is the Kaman-Kalehöyük Archaeological Museum, whose rounded design was inspired by the profile of the nearby Kalehöyük mound. Inside, your guide introduces the long-running excavations led by Japanese archaeologists and the cultural layers they revealed, from Early Bronze Age and Hittite levels to later periods. The building, about 1,421 square metres in total, houses display halls, a research library, a laboratory for the conservation and restoration of finds and a storage repository, giving you a rare look at how a working excavation museum operates. We then step into the Japanese Garden next door, built in 1993 by the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan in memory of the Kalehöyük excavations. Considered one of the largest Japanese gardens outside Japan, it features a cascading waterfall, quiet ponds, bridges and many dwarf trees. This part of the day is dedicated to photography, so you can take your time to capture the reflections, textures and views at your own pace. After the photo session we drive back to Kirşehir city centre, where you have free time for a stroll and some shopping before we return you to your hotel.
Kirsehir → Kalehoyuk Museum → Japanese Garden Photo
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