Hittite places of worship varied from open air shrines and spring shrines to the elaborate temples built from huge stone masonry at the capital, Hattushash (Boghazkoy). These were the most important buildings in a Hittite city.
The temples in the capital consisted of many small rooms grouped around a paved court. The statue of the cult deity stood in a shrine in a side room, invisible to those in the court.
Underneath were storerooms and the surrounding rooms probably housed the large staff. The temple was the home of the god or goddess and the priests were their domestic staff, there to wash, feed, clothe and entertain them.
At Yazilikaya, where an outcrop of rock formed two natural defiles, a temple complex was built at the entrance to the shrine. Yazilikaya is remarkable for the processions of deities and Hittite royalty carved in low relief on the rock face.
