When was Anu0131tkabir built?

The construction of Anu0131tkabir began in 1944 and was completed in 1953, when the body of Atatu00fcrk was brought to the mausoleum. The memorial was built as the national project of the republic.

What is the museum of Anu0131tkabir?

The Atatu00fcrk and the War of Independence Museum holds the story of the founder and the nation: the personal objects of Atatu00fcrk, the exhibits of the War of Independence, and the history of the republic. The museum was established in the complex in the later decades.

Anitkabir Through the Centuries

By All Over InformationUpdated August 10, 20267 min read

Anıtkabir is the youngest of the great monuments of Turkey — the mausoleum built in the twentieth century for the founder of the republic — and its history, shorter than the millennia of the ancient sites, is the story of the modern nation. The memorial on the hill of Ankara has lived through its own decades: the years of the planning, the building, the arrival of the founder, and the decades of the national life around it. This guide traces Anıtkabir through its history, era by era.

The Years Before: The Hill of Ankara

The ground of Anıtkabir has its own deep history, and the hill of the memorial was not empty ground. The Rasattepe — the hill of Ankara that became the site of the mausoleum — held the remains of the earlier times: the excavations before the building revealed the burial mounds of the Phrygian era, the ancient tombs of the hill, and the layers of the settlement that reached back to the first millennium before the common era. The ground of the memorial carried the deep history of Anatolia, and the hill of the founder stood on the layered ground of the land.

The years before the memorial gave the site its depth: the ancient hill of Ankara, the Phrygian tombs, and the long history of the ground that the republic chose for its founder.

The Late 1930s: The Death and the Beginning

The history of Anıtkabir begins with the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in November 1938. The founder of the republic died in the Dolmabahçe Palace, and the nation entered the mourning that would lead to the memorial. The body of the founder was brought to Ankara and placed in the temporary resting place — the Ethnography Museum of the capital — and the question of the permanent memorial became the question of the nation: the monument that would honor the founder, and the tomb that would hold him.

The late 1930s were the beginning of the story: the death of the founder, the mourning of the nation, and the first planning of the memorial.

Anitkabir, Turkey — Photo by Anestiev on Pixabay

The 1940s: The Competition and the Design

The 1940s brought the design of the memorial. The government of the republic opened the international competition for the mausoleum, and the architects of the world submitted their proposals. The winning design of the Turkish architects Emin Onat and Orhan Arda combined the modern monumentality with the references to the Anatolian tradition, and the design of the competition set the form of the memorial: the ceremonial axis, the stone masses, and the complex on the hill.

The 1940s also brought the beginning of the construction: the site prepared, the excavations of the hill undertaken, and the first works of the memorial begun in 1944, as the republic built the monument of its founder.

The Late 1940s and the 1950s: The Building

The years of the building carried the memorial through its construction. The project of Anıtkabir was the national undertaking: the thousands of workers and the artisans of the republic, the stone of the mausoleum gathered from the quarries of the provinces, and the complex rising through the years — the Lion Road, the towers, the courtyard, and the mausoleum taking form on the hill of Ankara. The construction continued through the late 1940s and into the 1950s, and the memorial neared its completion.

The building of the memorial was the work of the nation: the monument built by the people for the founder, and the complex of Anıtkabir rising through the years of the construction.

1953: The Arrival of the Founder

The year 1953 brought the completion of the memorial and the arrival of the founder. In November 1953, fifteen years after the death of Atatürk, the body of the founder was carried from the temporary resting place to the new mausoleum: the great state procession of the nation, the coffin carried through the streets of Ankara, and the people lining the route of the founder’s final journey. The arrival placed Atatürk in the tomb of the memorial, and Anıtkabir became the resting place of the founder.

The year 1953 was the fulfillment of the memorial: the founder at rest in the monument of the nation, and the purpose of Anıtkabir completed.

The 1960s and the 1970s: The National Monument

The decades after the completion saw Anıtkabir become the national monument. The memorial took its place at the heart of the national life: the ceremonies of the state, the visits of the foreign leaders, and the wreaths laid at the tomb of the founder. The complex also became the place of the people — the citizens and the schoolchildren of the republic coming to the memorial, and the millions of the visits accumulating through the decades.

The 1960s and the 1970s were the decades of the national monument: the memorial of the founder, the stage of the state ceremonies, and the destination of the nation’s visits.

The 1980s and the 1990s: The Museum and the Expansion

The later decades brought the expansion of the memorial. The museum of Anıtkabir — the Atatürk and the War of Independence Museum — was established in the complex, and the halls of the memorial opened to the story of the founder and the nation: the personal objects of Atatürk, the exhibits of the War of Independence, and the history of the republic. The museum of the memorial added the depth of the visit, and the complex of Anıtkabir grew into the full national memorial.

The 1980s and the 1990s were the decades of the expansion: the museum of the complex, the exhibits of the nation’s story, and the memorial growing into its full form.

The Twenty-First Century: The Memorial of the Republic

The twenty-first century has seen Anıtkabir as the established heart of the national memory. The memorial continues its double life: the stage of the state ceremonies — the national days, the official visits, and the commemorations of the founder — and the place of the people, with the millions of the visitors each year. The memorial of the republic stands on the hill of Ankara, the constant of the nation’s life, and the visits of the founder’s tomb continue through the decades.

The twenty-first century is the continuing chapter of Anıtkabir: the national memorial of the republic, the tomb of the founder, and the place where the nation keeps the memory of its beginning.

Anıtkabir in the Story of the Nation

There is a deeper place for Anıtkabir in the story of Turkey: the memorial is the monument of the modern era. The ancient sites of the country hold the millennia of the deep past; Anıtkabir holds the founding of the modern nation. The mausoleum on the hill of Ankara marks the beginning of the republic — the War of Independence, the reforms, and the state that Atatürk created — and the memorial stands as the hinge of the national story: the monument where the ancient land becomes the modern nation.

The Experience of the Memorial

There is a particular quality to the visit of Anıtkabir: the traveler walks the ceremonial route of the nation’s memorial, to the tomb of the founder. The complex gives the experience of the republic — the avenue, the courtyard, the mausoleum, and the meaning of the founder — and the visit is the encounter with the modern history of Turkey: the memorial of the founding, the tomb of Atatürk, and the monument that the nation built, in the decades of its life.

The Visitors Through the Decades

The visitors of Anıtkabir have changed with the decades, and the memorial has received them all. In the first years after the completion, the visitors were the generation of the founder’s contemporaries — the veterans of the war, the citizens who had lived through the founding — and the memorial received the nation’s first pilgrimages. In the later decades, the visitors have been the generations of the republic — the schoolchildren on their outings, the families of the country, and the travelers of the world — and the millions of the visits have accumulated through the years.

The visitors through the decades are the measure of the memorial’s place: the monument that has received the nation for seventy years, and that continues to receive it. The small ceremonies of the everyday — the wreaths, the flowers, and the respect of the visitors — repeat at the tomb of the founder, and the memorial of the republic carries the visits of the generations.

Frequently asked questions

When was Anıtkabir built?

The construction of Anıtkabir began in 1944 and was completed in 1953, when the body of Atatürk was brought to the mausoleum. The memorial was built as the national project of the republic.

What was on the hill before Anıtkabir?

The hill of the memorial held the remains of the earlier times: the excavations revealed the burial mounds of the Phrygian era and the layers of the ancient settlement. The ground of the memorial carried the deep history of Anatolia.

What is the museum of Anıtkabir?

The Atatürk and the War of Independence Museum holds the story of the founder and the nation: the personal objects of Atatürk, the exhibits of the War of Independence, and the history of the republic. The museum was established in the complex in the later decades.

All Over Information

The All Over Information editorial team researches and writes practical English-language guides to Turkey. Facts are checked against official and local sources before publication, prices are published as dated ranges rather than quotes, and guides are revised when things change. We accept no sponsored posts, paid placements or paid links.