{"id":43986,"date":"2024-11-08T15:25:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T12:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/the-eternal-resting-place-of-the-great-leader-anitkabir\/"},"modified":"2024-11-08T15:26:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T12:26:17","slug":"the-eternal-resting-place-of-the-great-leader-anitkabir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/the-eternal-resting-place-of-the-great-leader-anitkabir\/","title":{"rendered":"The eternal resting place of the Great Leader: An\u0131tkabir"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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History of An\u0131tkabir<\/b><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"anitkabir<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Rasattepe to An\u0131ttepe<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An\u0131ttepe, now called An\u0131tkabir in honor of the mausoleum complex, was once known as Rasattepe, reflecting its history as an observation station. The site had been occupied by the Phrygian civilization in the 12th century BCE and Phrygian burial structures had been observed; following the determination of Rasattepe as the ideal location for Atat\u00fcrk’s mausoleum, archaeological excavations started, in order to retrieve artifacts from the site. These items are now exhibited at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 9, 1944: A solemn groundbreaking ceremony<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following the expropriation efforts, a mausoleum befitting Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk could be erected and, on October 9, 1944, a remarkable groundbreaking ceremony took place. The earth level and the retaining wall construction on Lion Road required an entire year, with the initial segment finalized in 1944-45. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction of the mausoleum, auxiliary buildings and ceremonial square <\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The construction of the mausoleum, the auxiliary buildings and the ceremonial square commenced in September 1945 and were completed approximately five years later, in 1950. The third phase of An\u0131tkabir’s construction involved the stone paving of the roads that lead to the monument, the lion’s path, the ceremonial square, and the mausoleum; as well as building the grand steps, replacing the sarcophagus stone, and installing the plumbing works. The last phase involved adding ornamentations and other final touches, with the completion of Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s final resting place scheduled for September 1, 1953.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sections of An\u0131tkabir<\/b><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"anitkabir<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An\u0131tkabir is a stellar architectural example of the period. The structure features two main sections, the Memorial Block and the Peace Park, covering a total area of 750,000 square meters. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bar\u0131\u015f Park<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the Bar\u0131\u015f (Peace) Park, established in honor of Atat\u00fcrk’s commitment to peace, saplings from various foreign nations and different regions of T\u00fcrkiye were planted. Currently, the park contains 48,500 distinct ornamental trees, shrubs and plants, including trees and saplings sourced from Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United States and Yugoslavia. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memorial Block <\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Memorial Block (An\u0131t Bloku) of An\u0131tkabir includes the Lion Road (Aslanl\u0131 Yol), the Ceremonial Plaza (T\u00f6ren Meydan\u0131) and the Mausoleum. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some specific details in the complex include the following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A relief work by Z\u00fcht\u00fc M\u00fcrido\u011flu, accompanied by significant words attributed to Atat\u00fcrk, is in the Independence Tower (\u0130stiklal Kulesi).\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom Tower (H\u00fcrriyet Kulesi) also features a relief by Z\u00fcht\u00fc M\u00fcrido\u011flu, accompanied by an Atat\u00fcrk quote on freedom.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Women Sculpture Group (Kad\u0131n Heykel Grubu) created by sculptor H\u00fcseyin \u00d6zkan is meant to embody the women of T\u00fcrkiye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Male Sculpture Group (Erkek Heykel Grubu), also by H\u00fcseyin \u00d6zkan, depicts Turkish soldiers, youths and peasants.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-four statues of seated lions, symbolizing power and steadfastness, flank the 262-meter-long Lion Road (Aslanl\u0131 Yol). \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ceremonial Plaza, which can hold 15,000 people, is decorated with intricate patterns mimicking those of Turkish rugs and carpets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mehmet\u00e7ik Tower houses Z\u00fcht\u00fc M\u00fcrido\u011flu’s portrayals of the Mehmet\u00e7ik (Turkish Soldier); the Atat\u00fcrk and Revolution Library (Atat\u00fcrk ve Devrim K\u00fct\u00fcphanesi) is between the Mehmet\u00e7ik and Victory towers.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tomb of \u0130smet \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the symbolic sarcophagus of \u0130smet \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc. \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc was Atat\u00fcrk’s closest comrade-in-arms and served as the second President of T\u00fcrkiye until 1950. \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc was interred in An\u0131tkabir on December 28, 1973, following a decree from the Council of Ministers. His burial chamber is on the lower floor; the sarcophagus is between the Peace (Bar\u0131\u015f) and Victory (Zafer) Towers, set in the center of a gallery with open-sided columns.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An\u0131tkabir Atat\u00fcrk Museum<\/b><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The An\u0131tkabir Atat\u00fcrk Museum opened to the public on June 21, 1960. It is accessible from the Misak-\u0131 Milli Tower on the right when facing the Memorial Block (An\u0131t Blo\u011fu) from the Ceremony Area in An\u0131tkabir. In 2001, a project prepared by An\u0131tkabir Command led to a decision to add approximately 3,000 square meters of columned space to the museum beneath the Hall of Honor (\u015eeref Salonu) in the Mausoleum. Now featuring 5,200 square meters of exhibition space, the museum reopened with a state ceremony on August 26, 2002. At that time, the museum was renamed the Atat\u00fcrk and War of Independence Museum (Atat\u00fcrk ve Kurtulu\u015f Sava\u015f\u0131 M\u00fczesi). \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial section of the museum is divided into four parts, with displays of Atat\u00fcrk’s personal belongings, gifts from foreign dignitaries, and items contributed by his spiritual children: Afet \u0130nan, Rukiye Erkin, and Sabiha G\u00f6k\u00e7en, who was T\u00fcrkiye’s first woman pilot. The second section contains oil paintings depicting the Gallipoli War, the Battle of Sakarya and the Great Offensive, showing the challenges faced on the journey to establishing the Republic of T\u00fcrkiye. The third section includes Atat\u00fcrk’s burial chamber, as well as galleries depicting the National Struggle and revolutions, with these events from 1919 to 1938 described in Turkish and English. The final section houses 3,123 books from Atat\u00fcrk’s library. The Atat\u00fcrk Special Library (Atat\u00fcrk \u00d6zel Kitapl\u0131\u011f\u0131) uses computers to present visitors with insights into Atat\u00fcrk’s life, the development of An\u0131tkabir and the ceremonies conducted at the site, along with a collection of documents and photographs.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where is An\u0131tkabir?<\/b><\/p><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\"anitkabir<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An\u0131tkabir is in the \u00c7ankaya district of Ankara. Atat\u00fcrk’s eternal resting place is on the hill in \u00c7ankaya, in an area formerly known as Rasattepe and now called An\u0131ttepe.\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many visitors come to An\u0131tkabir?<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of people visit An\u0131tkabir daily, with particularly high visitor numbers on special days and historical occasions. A notable milestone was achieved on the 100th anniversary of the Republic, with 1,182,425 visitors to the site. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information on visiting An\u0131tkabir<\/b><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The visiting hours for An\u0131tkabir vary according to the time of year. An\u0131tkabir is open daily from 09:00 to 16:30 from February 1 to May 14; from 09:00 to 17:00 from May 15 to October 31; and from 09:00 to 16:00 from November 1 to January 31. Entry to the An\u0131tkabir complex, including the museum, is free.\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History of An\u0131tkabir From Rasattepe to An\u0131ttepe An\u0131ttepe, now called An\u0131tkabir in honor of the mausoleum complex, was once known as Rasattepe, reflecting its history as an observation station. The site had been occupied by the Phrygian civilization in the 12th century BCE and Phrygian burial structures had been observed; following the determination of Rasattepe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":43868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,147],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-historical-places-to-visit-and-routes","8":"category-trip-ideas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43990,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43986\/revisions\/43990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.turkishairlines.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}