Anıtkabir (literally, "memorial tomb") is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. It is located in Ankara and was designed by architects Professor Emin Onat and Assistant Professor Ahmet Orhan Arda, whose proposal beat 48 other entries from several countries in a competition held by the Turkish Government in 1941 for a "monumental tomb" for Atatürk.
The site is also the final resting place of İsmet İnönü, 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 on various Turkish banknotes during 1966–1987 and 1997–2009[2] and was included in the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers list of the fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey, a list of remarkable engineering projects realized in the first 50 years of the chamber.
The great leader of Turkish Independence War and Turkish Revolution and the founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s life, with full of struggles for Turkish land's freedom and endeavours to raise the Turkish Nation to the level of contemporary civilization, lasted 57 years. It ended on 10 November 1938 and the great leader passed to eternity.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is a great leader, achieving to make Turkey a member of contemporary civilization with all its institutions, has a special place in the history of humanities. The idea to build a mausoleum to reflect his greatness in every respect and to present his thoughts on principles, his reforms and modernization, was the common desire of the Turkish Nation in deepest grief of losing Atatürk.
Before building of Anitkabir, Anittepe’s (Monument Hill ) name was Rasattepe (Observation Hill) because there was an observatory on this hill.
There were also tumuluses (graves) belonging to Phrygian civilization of 3rd Century BC on this hill. Archeological excavations took place to remove these tombs after the decision was given to build Anitkabir on Rasattepe. Remains found on these excavations are on display in the museum of Anatolian Civilizations.
The first stage to start the construction was the expropriation of the land after deciding on the Anitkabir project. Actual construction of Anitkabir commenced on 9 October 1944 with a splendid ceremony by laying the first stone of the foundation. Construction of Anitkabir took nine years in four stages.
The Anitkabir project originally had a vaulted ceiling above the mausoleum carried by the perimeter columns. On 4 December 1951 the Government inquired the architects of the possibility of shortening the time of construction by lowering the 28 m. high ceiling of the Hall of Honours.
After studying the subject, architects concluded that it was possible to cover the ceiling with a reinforced concrete slab instead of a stone vault. This change had reduced the weight of the ceiling and, therefore, certain risks were eliminated further.
Easy to process porous travertine with various colours was used on external cladding of the concrete surfaces and marble was used for the inside surfaces of the mausoleum.
White travertine that was used for sculpture groups, for lions figures and the mausoleum colons, is brought in from Pinarbasi town of Kayseri and white travertine used inside the towers is brought in from Polatli and Malikoy. Red and black travertine used for paving the ceremonial ground and floors of towers were brought in from Kayseri, Bogazköprü region and yellow travertine brought in from Cankiri, Eskipazar was used for building the Victory relief, Hall of Honours external walls and perimeter colons of the ceremonial ground.
Red, black and cream colour marbles used on the floor of the Hall of Honours were brought from Hatay, Adana and Canakkale, and for the internal walls, tiger-hide patterned marble from Afyon and green marble brought from Bilecik. Monolithic tomb stone weighing 40 tons was brought from Osmaniye, Adana and the white marble covering sides of the sarcophagus were from Afyon.
IV. ANITKABIR'S ARCHITECTURAL PROPERTIES
Like us and Join us at Xtreme Collections for more fun and knowledge.
