Anitkabir Atatürk mausoleum

Anitkabir – Atatürk mausoleum & museum - darkometer rating : 3 - A monumental memorial site in Turkey 's capital Ankara, with the Atatürk mausoleum as its core centrepiece. Atatürk , whose original real name was Mustafa Kemal, was the founder of the modern Turkish state. After his untimely death in 1938 it took until the 1950s for this massive mausoleum complex to be completed (and for Atatürk's body to be moved here). In addition to the actual mausoleum, there's an extensive museum, a huge square ringed by long colonnades, which also include further exhibition rooms (displaying e.g. Atatürk's state carriages and cars), a cinema, large-scale sculptures, etc. > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos What there is to see: the main part of and dominating the complex is the Atatürk mausoleum at the front of the large square, which is otherwise framed by lower buildings and colonnades. The heart of it all, the Hall of Honour with Atatürk 's sarcophagus is reached via monumental stairs, flanked by huge reliefs whose style is not dissimilar to that of socialist realism , with elements of ancient Greek or Egyptian styles thrown in for good measure. The architectural style of the mausoleum building, the Hall of Honour, is more reminiscent of the general monumental style of the 1930s/40s, beloved as much by Germany 's Nazis as it was in the USSR or the USA (e.g. the Pentagon ). All this is meant as a purely architectural observation, with no ideological implications at all! The most informative part of the complex is the Atatürk & War of Independence Museum.