Anıtkabir (literally, "memorial tomb") is the
mausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
of
Mustafa Kemal AtatürkMustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President....
, the leader of
Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
and the founder and first president of the
Republic of TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
. It is located in
AnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2007 the city had a population of 4,751,360, which includes eight districts under the city's administration...
and was designed by architects Professor Emin Onat and Assistant Professor Orhan Arda, who won the competition held by the Turkish Government in 1941 for a "monumental
mausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
" for Atatürk out of a total of 49 international proposals.
The site is also the final resting place of
İsmet İnönüMustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of the Republic of Turkey...
, the second
President of Turkey, who was interred there after he died in 1973. His tomb faces the Atatürk Mausoleum, on the opposite side of the Ceremonial Ground.
The mausoleum was depicted in various Turkish banknotes during 1966-1987 and 1997-2009.
Visitors
On 10 November 2007, 69
th anniversary of Atatürk's death, 546,620 people, of whom 544,200 were Turkish nationals and 2,420 were foreigners, visited Anıtkabir setting an all time high record of daily visitors. In the first 11 months of 2007, Anıtkabir received over 11 million visitors, surpassing the total number of visitors for any whole year. In 2006, a total of 8,150,000 people and in 2005, a total of 3,800,000 people visited Anıtkabir.
Architectural properties
The period of Turkish architecture between 1940 and 1950 has been classified by architectural historians as the
Second National Architecture Movement. This period is characterized mostly by monumental, symmetrical, cut-stone clad buildings, with great emphasis given to detailing and workmanship in construction. Anıtkabir contains the same characteristics of this period, and is considered by many to be the ultimate monument of the era. In addition, Anıtkabir features Seljuq and
OttomanThe Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According to some sources , the leader of the Kayi tribe of the Oguz Turks, Ertugrul, left Persia in...
architectural and ornamentation features. For example, the eaves of the towers and the Hall of Honour are all Seljuq-style
sawtooth ornamentation.
Construction
The site chosen for Anıtkabir was known as
Rasattepe (
Observation Hill), which, at the time of the architectural competition for Anıtkabir, was a central location in Ankara and could be seen by all parts of the city. Archeological excavations unearthed artifacts belonging to the
PhrygiaIn antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...
n civilization, which were carefully excavated and put on display in the
Museum of Anatolian CivilizationsThe Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is located on the south side of Ankara Castle in the Atpazarı area in Ankara, Turkey. It consists of the old Ottoman Mahmut Paşa bazaar storage building, and the Kurşunlu Han...
, also in Ankara.
The construction of Anıtkabir, which took nine years and spanned four stages, commenced on 9 October 1944 with the ceremony of laying the foundation stone.
The first stage of the construction, comprising the preparatory excavation and the construction of the retaining wall of the Lions Road, started on 9 October 1944 and completed in 1945. The second stage of the construction, comprising the mausoleum and the auxiliary buildings surrounding the ceremonial ground, started on 29 September 1945, and was completed on 8 August 1950. At this stage, due to problems related to the mausoleum's masonry and concrete structure foundations, some revisions had to be made. At the end of 1947, the excavation and insulation of the mausoleum foundation was completed and steel reinforcements for the new 11 m. (36.1 ft) high concrete foundation, capable of resisting any kind of settlement of the ground, had come to near completion. The Entrance towers, most parts of the road network, the orchard installations, the plantation works and main parts of the irrigation system were also completed at this stage.
The third stage of the construction was the building of the roads leading to the mausoleum, The Lions Road, and the ceremonial ground; the mausoleum's upper-level stone pavement, the grand stairs, placement of the grand tombstone, and the installation of electricity, plumbing and heating systems.
The fourth and last stage of construction was the laying of the Hall of Honour pavement, vaults under the side linings, and Hall of Honour perimeter stone profiles and fringe decorations, which was completed on 1 September 1953.
Revision of original plans
The Anıtkabir project originally had a vaulted ceiling above the mausoleum carried by the perimeter columns. On 4 December 1951, the Government asked the architects about the possibility of shortening construction time by lowering the high ceiling of the Hall of Honour. After studying the subject, the architects concluded that it was possible to cover the ceiling with a reinforced concrete slab instead of a stone vault. This change reduced the weight of the ceiling and also eliminated certain constructional risks.
Surface reliefs and stones
All stones and
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
s were brought in from various parts of Turkey, to be a representation of
Turkish People'sThe Turkish people , also known as the "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early historic text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey; whatever his/her faith or racial/ethnic background; who speaks Turkish, grows up...
devotion to the founder of the republic. Easily processed porous
travertineTravertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from geothermally heated hot-springs. Similar deposits formed from ambient temperature water are known as tufa.-Features:...
is used on external cladding of the concrete surfaces and marble is used for the inside surfaces of the Hall of Honour.
White travertine used for the sculpture groups, lions figures and the mausoleum columns was brought from
KayseriKayseri , named in classical antiquity as Mazaka or Mazaca, Eusebia, Caesarea Cappadociae, and later as Kaisariyah, is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province...
and the travertine used inside the towers was brought from
PolatlıPolatlı is a town and district of Ankara Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, 80 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara, on the road to Eskişehir. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 116,400 of which 79,992 live in the town of Polatlı...
and Maliköy. The red and black travertine that used for paving the ceremonial ground and floors of the towers came from Kayseri. Yellow travertine brought from
ÇankırıÇankırı is capital city of Çankırı Province, in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated in a rich well-watered valley, at about 800 m in elevation.-History:...
was used for building the Victory Reliefs, the Hall of Honour's external walls, and perimeter columns of the ceremonial ground. The red, black and cream colour marble that was used on the floor of the Hall of Honour were brought from
HatayHatay refers to the following places in Turkey:* Hatay Province, Turkey* Antakya is the capital city of Hatay Province, Turkey* Republic of Hatay, between 1938–1939.* Hatay, İzmir, Turkey, a district of İzmir...
,
AdanaAdana is a city in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey and is the administrative seat of the Adana Province. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean Sea, in south-central Anatolia, and has a population of over 1.5 million; making it the fifth most...
and
ÇanakkaleÇanakkale is a town and seaport in Turkey, in Çanakkale Province, on the southern coast of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point....
, and for the internal walls, tiger-patterned marble from Afyon and green marble from
BilecikBilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province.Along with its districts, it is the birthplace of the Osmanlı dynasty, whose members founded the Ottoman Empire....
was used. The sarcophogus, a monolithic tomb stone weighing 40 tons, was brought from
AdanaAdana is a city in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey and is the administrative seat of the Adana Province. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean Sea, in south-central Anatolia, and has a population of over 1.5 million; making it the fifth most...
and the white marble covering the sides of the sarcophagus were also from Afyon.
Layout
There are four main parts to Anıtkabir: the Street of Lions, the Ceremonial Plaza, the Hall of Honor (location of Atatürk's tomb) and the Peace Park that surrounds the monument.
Street of Lions
The approach to the monument is a -long pedestrian walkway that is lined on both sides by twelve pairs of lions carved in a style like the Hittite archaeological finds. The lions represent Anatolia and are shown seated to simultaneously represent both power and peace. A five centimeter gap separates the paving stones on the Street of Lions to ensure that visitors take their time and observe respectful behavior on their way to Atatürk's tomb.
Ceremonial Plaza
The Ceremonial Plaza is situated at the end of the Lions Road. The area is long and wide and was designed to accommodate 15,000 people. The floor is decorated with 373 rug and
kilim (Turkish carpet) patterns, and is made of travertine in various colors.
Hall of Honor
The Hall of Honor is the iconic symbol of Anıtkabir and the location of Atatürk's tomb. The structure is in plan and rises to a height of , with the columns themselves measuring .
Atatürk's tomb is situated right under the symbolic 40-ton sarcophagus in the ground floor of The Hall of Honor, and Atatürk's corpse is buried below this in a special Tomb Room in the basement level. The room has an octagonal plan in Seljuk and Ottoman architectural styles, and its pyramidal ceiling is inlaid with gold mosaics.
Peace Park
The park that surrounds the monument is called a Peace Park in honor of Atatürk's famous expression "Peace at home, peace in the world." It contains around 50,000 decorative trees, flowers and shrubs in 104 varieties, donated from around 25 countries.
Towers, statues, museum
Within the Anitkabir site there are ten towers situated in a symmetrical arrangement. These symbolize the ideals that influenced the Turkish nation and the creation of the Republic of Turkey. The towers are similar in terms of planning and structure: they are rectangular, close to a square, with pyramidal roofs. Bronze arrowheads are placed on the top of the roofs, like in traditional Turkish
nomadNomadic people are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in...
tents. Inside the towers, geometric ornamentation inspired by traditional Turkish carpet (kilim) patterns and motifs, can be found on the towers' ceilings in
frescoFresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins...
technique. There are also inscriptions of quotes by Atatürk that correspond to the theme of that tower.
Independence Tower
The relief inside the Independence Tower shows a young man standing straight and holding a sword with both hands while an
eagleEagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa...
is perching on a rock beside him. The eagle represents power and independence in mythology and in Seljuk art, and the young man with the sword represents the Turkish nation defending its independence.
Women statue group
In front of the Independence Tower there is a statue group of three women in Turkish national costumes. The two women at the sides are holding a large wreath reaching to the ground. This wreath, made up of grain sheafs, represents the abundant country. The woman on the left with a cup in her stretched-out hand is asking for God's compassion for Atatürk, and the woman in the middle, covering her face with her hand, is crying. This group represents the pride of Turkish women, and their solemnity and determination even in the deepest grief of losing Atatürk.
Freedom Tower
The relief inside the Freedom Tower shows a figure of an
angelAngels are spiritual beings found in many religious traditions. They are broadly viewed as messengers of God, sent to do God's tasks. Traditions vary as to the precise nature and role of these messages and tasks...
holding a sheet of paper and a rearing
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
next to it. The angel figure symbolizes the holiness of freedom and the sheet of paper symbolizes the Turkish Declaration of Freedom. The horse figure is a symbol of both freedom and independence.
Men statue group
In front of the Freedom Tower there is a statue group made up of three men. The man at the right with a helmet and coat represents a Turkish soldier; on the left with a book in his hand is a Turkish youth and intellectual; behind both of these, in village clothing, is a Turkish peasant. The serious facial expressions of all three statues represent the solemnity and willpower of the Turkish people.
Mehmetçik Tower
The Mehmetçik Tower is situated on the right-hand side of the end of the Lion's Road. The relief on the exterior facade depicts a
mehmetçik (Turkish foot soldier) leaving home for the front. In this composition, a sad but proud mother holding her hand on the shoulder of her son sends him to the war for the country. There is a bookstore and a gift shop in this tower for visitors interested in buying articles about Anıtkabir and Atatürk.
Victory Tower
The dates of the nation's most important three victories and Atatürk's words about these victories are inscribed on the walls of this tower. Inside the tower, the gun carriage, which carried Atatürk's coffin from
Dolmabahçe PalaceThe Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, located at the European side of the Bosporus, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1922, apart from a twenty-year interval in which the Yıldız Palace was used....
to
SarayburnuSarayburnu is a promontory separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülhane Park stand...
and handed over to the
NavyThe Turkish Navy is a branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.The Turkish Navy has historically been one of the largest sea powers of the Mediterranean...
on 19 November 1938 is on display.
Peace Tower
A relief composition expressing Atatürk's principle of
Peace at home, peace in the world is inscribed inside the tower walls. In this relief, peasants and a soldier figure protecting them by holding out his sword are depicted. This soldier symbolizes the
Turkish ArmyThe Turkish Land Forces is a branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It is one of the largest standing armies in the world and the second largest army of NATO....
, the strong and genuine keeper of the peace, allowing people to live their daily lives in peace secured by the Turkish Army.
23rd April Tower
On the inside walls of this tower is a relief depicting the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 23 April 1920. The woman standing in this relief is holding a paper in her hand with an inscription of the date. The key in her other hand symbolizes the opening of the Assembly.
Atatürk's
CadillacCadillac is a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors Company. Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mainly in North America....
car, used between 1936 and 1938, is on display in this tower.
Tower of Reforms
This tower is the extension of the museum and Atatürk's garments are exhibited here. The relief inside the tower wall shows a weak hand holding the torch about to extinguish, symbolizing the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. Another, strong hand raising a radiating torch to the skies symbolizes the reforms with which the new Turkish Republic and Atatürk raised the Turkish Nation to the level of contemporary civilization.
Misak-ı MillîMisak-ı Millî is the set of six important decisions made by the last term of the Ottoman Parliament. Parliament met on 28 January 1920 and published their decisions on 12 February 1920...
(National Pact) Tower
The tower is at the entry to the museum (see below) and the relief inside this tower symbolizes the binding in unity. The relief shows four hands joining on a sword hilt. This composition symbolizes the nation's common oath to save the Turkish Country.
Anıtkabir Atatürk Museum
Anıtkabir Atatürk Museum opened on 21 June 1960. Atatürk's personal items, his wardrobe, and some of the gifts presented to him are on display in this museum. Atatürk's medals, decorations and some personal items donated to the museum by his adopted children are also exhibited in the museum.
External links