Ankara Opera & Ballet is one of the capital's clearest statements of early Republican culture: a central venue for opera, ballet, and classical performance in a city better known to travellers for museums and government buildings. The building gives Ankara a formal evening scene that feels very different from Kızılay's everyday bustle.
Check the programme if you are staying overnight. Performances are often good value, and even a short visit to the exterior helps explain how the new Turkish capital set out to build modern civic institutions alongside its ancient and Ottoman layers.