Erzurum Atatürk Evi Müzesi

Erzurum Atatürk House Museum occupies the historic mansion in the city centre where Mustafa Kemal Paşa and his companions stayed during the Erzurum Congress of 1919. The exact construction date of the mansion is unknown, but the Culture Portal and the ministry's museum website date it to the end of the 19th century. According to the tourism guide of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the mansion was built by a wealthy Erzurum family. Standing on an almost square plot, the building consists of a ground floor, a first floor and an attic above a basement. Dressed stone was used for the base and foundations, and rubble stone with timber beams for the other parts. It is entered through a round-arched door, and the Culture Portal notes that the building shows the stylistic features of the 1890s. The mansion served several purposes even before the national struggle. Between 1915 and 1916 it was used for about nine months as the German Consulate. According to the Culture Portal, after Erzurum was liberated on 12 March 1918 the building was given to the Erzurum Governorship as a residence. When the governor of the time left the city on 3 July 1919, the mansion became vacant. Mustafa Kemal Paşa, who had come to Erzurum for the congress after Samsun, moved into the house on 9 July 1919 with Hüseyin Rauf Bey and his companions. The delegation carried out most of its congress work here for 52 days, until 29 August 1919. The ministry's museum website also lists the important events that took place in the mansion. On 8 and 9 July 1919 Mustafa Kemal Paşa resigned from the army in this house and entered civilian life. His nomination from Erzurum in the elections for the Ottoman parliament, his first election as a deputy and his chairmanship of the delegation that would attend the Sivas Congress also date from this period. After the congress the house was once again used as the governor's residence. When he came to Erzurum on 13 September 1924, a golden key made by an Erzurum jeweller at the request of Mayor Nazif Bey, together with the title deed of the house, was presented to him on behalf of the city. After Atatürk's death the mansion passed to his sister Makbule Hanım. Following her death it was transferred, in line with her wishes, to the Child Protection Agency, which used the building until 1980. In 1984 the building was handed over to the Ministry of Culture, repaired and opened to visitors on 3 October 1984 as the Atatürk House Museum. Today the museum is attached to the Erzurum Museum Directorate. The stone facade, the wooden window frames and the projecting balcony above the entrance are the details that make the mansion easiest to recognise from outside. On the ground floor, the room to the right of the entrance hall displays documents, photographs and personal belongings of leading figures of the national struggle, above all Kazım Karabekir and Kazım Yurdalan. The room opposite holds the Albayrak newspaper published in Erzurum during the national struggle and the printing press on which the congress declarations were printed. Wikipedia relates that the same floor also displays clothes, weapons and documents belonging to a local leader of the defence of rights society from Erzurum who attended the congress as a delegate. In the anteroom on the first floor, photographs and short biographies of the congress members are on display. From here you pass into the study used by Mustafa Kemal Paşa, the reception hall and the bedroom. We suggest looking first at the printing press on the ground floor and then climbing the stairs to walk through the rooms in turn. Because the house is small, the rooms can fill up when groups arrive, and weekday mornings are better for a quiet visit. The museum is on Çaykara Caddesi in the city centre and can be reached on foot from Cumhuriyet Caddesi. The Culture Portal notes that it can also be reached by the minibuses heading towards Atatürk University. Yakutiye Medresesi and the Erzurum Congress Building are a short walk away, so all three fit comfortably into the same half day. Visiting days and hours may change, so check the current information on the ministry's museum website.