Trabzon Atatürk Köşkü

The Trabzon Atatürk Pavilion is a white mansion standing in a small pine grove on the Soğuksu ridge, which overlooks the city. It was built as a summer house by Konstantin Kabayanidis, one of the notables of Trabzon engaged in trade and banking. Sources give different dates for its construction. Turkish Wikipedia and information given to a news report by a former director of the museum say that building began in 1890 and was completed in 1912. Kültür Portalı uses a more general date that ties the pavilion to the 19th century. The pavilion shows the influence of European and Western Renaissance architecture, and its facade uses showy European motifs. It was built of stone, brick and timber in the masonry technique and has four floors including the basement. According to the news report, the exterior highlights stonework while the interior walls were built in the bağdadi lath-and-plaster technique. Tiles of the period were also used in the interior. The domed corner tower and the white facade make the pavilion recognisable from every part of the garden. Kültür Portalı describes the rooms floor by floor. The entrance floor has a sitting room, a rest room, a dining room and a guest room. The first floor holds a study, a large bedroom, a waiting room and a meeting room. The second floor has two small rooms. The museum management also told the news report that a cistern collecting rainwater from the eaves was built together with the house. Ownership of the pavilion passed to the Treasury in 1923. It was bought by the provincial administration in 1930 and in 1931 was transferred to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by a decision of the Provincial Standing Committee. According to Kültür Portalı, Atatürk was received at the pavilion during his first visit to Trabzon in 1924 and came again in November 1930. On his last visit, in June 1937, he stayed at the pavilion for two nights. It is recorded that on the night of 11 June 1937 he decided here to donate all his property to the nation and sent the list to the prime minister. After Atatürk's death the pavilion passed to his legal heir, his sister Makbule Boysan. Trabzon Municipality bought the building to use it as a museum and had it registered in 1943. In the same year it was furnished with objects of the period and opened to visitors as the Atatürk Museum. According to the news report, the museum displays ethnographic pieces such as furniture, porcelain, carpets and paintings from the late 19th and the 20th centuries. Starting the visit in the garden is the right way to read the pavilion. Seen from the front garden with its pool, the symmetry of the facade and the proportions of the tower show at their best. Inside, besides the furniture, it is worth paying attention to the ceiling decoration and to the pine grove seen through the windows. As the rooms are small, it is worth keeping in mind that the visit becomes slower at busy times. The pine grove is also a pleasant area for a quiet walk. The pavilion is a short drive from the city centre. Turkish Wikipedia writes that shared minibuses do not serve the area and that it can be reached by the municipal ring buses. Since it may be closed from time to time for maintenance, current visiting information should be checked with the operating body, Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality. Garden paths can be slippery in rainy weather. After the pavilion, comparing it with the Kostaki Mansion at the Trabzon Museum shows two different approaches to housing from the same period.