Anıtkabir — the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic — is the most important monument of modern Turkey, and its history is the story of the nation’s founding. The great memorial on the hill of Ankara holds the tomb of the founder, and the story of its building is the story of the young republic: the design competition, the years of the construction, and the monument that the nation built for its founder. This guide tells the complete history of Anıtkabir.
The Death of the Founder
The story of Anıtkabir begins with the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1938. The founder of the Turkish Republic died in the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul on the 10th of November, 1938, and the nation entered the mourning that would lead to the monument. The body of the founder was brought to Ankara, the capital of the republic, and the question of the final resting place became the question of the nation: the memorial that would honor the founder, and the tomb that would hold him.
The death of Atatürk set the stage for Anıtkabir: the mourning of the nation, the planning of the memorial, and the monument that would carry the founder’s name into the future.
The Design Competition
The planning of the memorial began in the years after the founder’s death. The government of the republic opened the international competition for the design of the mausoleum, and the architects of the world submitted their proposals for the monument. The winning design came from the Turkish architects Emin Onat and Orhan Arda, whose proposal combined the modern monumentality with the traditions of the Anatolian architecture: the ceremonial axis, the stone masses, and the references to the ancient and the Seljuk building of the land.
The design of the competition set the form of Anıtkabir: the great ceremonial complex on the hill, the avenue of the approach, and the mausoleum at the summit — the design that the nation chose for its founder.
The Site of the Memorial
The site chosen for Anıtkabir was the Rasattepe — the hill of Ankara that overlooked the capital of the republic. The hill was the high point of the city’s skyline, and the memorial on the height would command the capital: the mausoleum visible from the city, and the city visible from the mausoleum. The site was also the ground of the ancient Anatolia — the hill held the remains of the earlier settlements, including the Phrygian burial mounds that the archaeologists investigated before the building — and the memorial rose on the layered ground of the land’s history.
The site of the hill gave Anıtkabir its setting: the monument above the capital, and the founder looking over the city and the country he created.
The Building of the Memorial
The construction of Anıtkabir began in 1944 and continued through the following decade, with the thousands of workers and the artisans of the republic laboring on the monument. The building was the national project: the stone of the mausoleum gathered from the quarries of the country, the crafts and the materials of the provinces brought to the capital, and the memorial rising through the years of the construction. The complex took form: the avenue of the approach, the courtyards, the towers of the complex, and the great mausoleum at the summit.
The construction of the memorial was the work of the nation: the monument built by the people for the founder, and the completion of the complex in 1953, fifteen years after the founder’s death.
The Arrival of the Founder
The completion of Anıtkabir brought the founder to his resting place. In November 1953, the body of Atatürk was carried from the temporary resting place to the new mausoleum, in 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 at the mausoleum placed Atatürk in the tomb of the memorial, and Anıtkabir became the resting place of the founder.
The arrival of 1953 completed the purpose of the memorial: the founder at rest in the monument of the nation, and Anıtkabir the place of the founder’s tomb.
The Complex of the Memorial
The Anıtkabir that the visitor sees is the complex of the several parts. The Lion Road — the avenue of the approach, lined with the stone lions of the Anatolian tradition — leads to the ceremonial courtyard, the open space of the complex with its flagstones and its crowds. The towers of the complex — the ten towers that ring the courtyard, each named for the values of the republic — hold the reliefs and the inscriptions of the memorial. And the mausoleum at the summit holds the tomb of the founder: the great hall of the monument, the sarcophagus of Atatürk, and the stone masses of the memorial.
The complex of Anıtkabir is the full monument: the avenue, the courtyard, the towers, and the mausoleum, the ceremonial whole of the national memorial.
The Museum of the Memorial
The later years added the museum to the complex. The Anıtkabir Museum — the Atatürk and the War of Independence Museum — opened in the recent decades, and the halls of the memorial hold 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 completes the visit: the tomb of the founder and the story of his life and his nation, in the same complex.
The Memorial Through the Decades
The decades since the completion have seen Anıtkabir become the heart of the national memory. The memorial is the place of the state ceremonies: the official visits of the foreign leaders, the ceremonies of the national days, and the wreaths laid at the tomb of the founder. The memorial is also the place of the people: the millions of the visitors who come each year, the schoolchildren and the citizens, and the nation’s pilgrimage to the resting place of the founder.
The memorial through the decades has been the constant of the republic: the monument of the founder, the stage of the state, and the place of the people’s memory.
Anıtkabir Today
The Anıtkabir today is the essential visit of Ankara: the national monument, the resting place of the founder, and the memorial that the visitors of the capital come to see. The visit follows the ceremonial path: the walk of the Lion Road, the crossing of the courtyard, and the entrance to the mausoleum — the tomb of Atatürk, the hall of the memorial, and the view over the capital from the hill. The visit of the memorial is the visit of the nation’s heart: the monument that holds the founder, and the place where the republic remembers its beginning.
The Meaning of the Memorial
There is a deeper meaning to Anıtkabir in the story of Turkey: the memorial is the monument of the founding. The mausoleum on the hill of Ankara holds the founder of the republic, and the memorial carries the meaning of the nation’s beginning — the War of Independence, the reforms, and the modern state that Atatürk created. The monument is not only the tomb of a man; it is the memorial of the transformation, the stone built by the nation to mark the moment of its founding, and the place where the republic keeps the memory of its creator.
The Experience of the Memorial
There is a particular quality to the visit of Anıtkabir: the traveler walks the ceremonial path 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.
The Architecture of the Memorial
The architecture of Anıtkabir carries the meaning of the memorial in its forms. The design of the complex combines the modern monumentality with the references to the Anatolian past: the stone of the mausoleum, the columns and the masses of the monument, and the details drawn from the Seljuk and the classical building of the land. The towers of the complex carry the motifs of the republic — the reliefs and the inscriptions of the values of the nation — and the mausoleum rises at the summit of the hill, the stone monument of the founder.
The architecture of the memorial is the architecture of the nation’s statement: the modern state, rooted in the long history of the land, and the founder honored in the monument of the stone. The visit of the complex walks the architecture of the republic — the avenue, the courtyard, and the mausoleum — and the forms of the memorial carry the meaning of the founder.
Frequently asked questions
What is Anıtkabir?
Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, on the hill of Ankara. The complex includes the Lion Road, the ceremonial courtyard, the towers, and the mausoleum with the tomb of the founder.
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.
Is Anıtkabir open to visitors?
Yes — Anıtkabir is open to the public, and the visit includes the Lion Road, the courtyard, the mausoleum with the tomb of the founder, and the museum of the memorial. The complex is the essential visit of Ankara.
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.
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