Crowning a prominent hill in the center of Ankara s the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic.
He died November 10, 1938 in Istanbul.
There is much to see at the mausoleum and we didn't have time to explore everything. There is the main hall, a museum of war and a museum Atatürk's personal possessions (I heard of a gold plated toothbrush given as a gift).
A mall lined with flowers, stone lions and statues of man and of woman stretched out from the plaza.
The Anıtkabir --Monumental Tomb--rises cleanly above a huge plaza. The day we visited a ceremonial wreath was being placed in front of the tomb. A group of men and women, dressed in suits, followed an honor guard into the building. We waited until they exited.
The huge hall, lined in red marble, has simple mosaic decoration recalling the many ages and civilizations of Anatolia: Hittite, Hellenic, roman, Seljuk, and Ottoman.
Before you on the north side is a huge marble cenotaph cut from a single block of stone. Atatürk's actual tomb is beneath it.
Views from the Anıtkabir looked out over the city of Ankara.
While the building was stately, strong and simple, the ceiling details were intricate and colorful
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| Main Hall ceiling |
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| Entrance Hall ceiling |
The plaza had guards at two corners and the mall had guards at the opposite corners. They marched, or stood motionless, outside and inside a glass enclosure.
Atatürk had a house in Trabzon, Turkey, on the Black Sea. The day we visited neither the Black Sea nor the mansion were clearly visible. We toured the house, however photos were not allowed.
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