Samsun - Havza Atatürk House Museum

6 days after Atatürk landed in Samsun on 19 May 1919, he transferred the 9th Army Inspectorate Headquarters to Havza district and stayed with his friends in Mesudiye Hotel in Havza until 13 June 1919.

The Mesudiye Hotel, where Atatürk stayed for two days, was used as the Municipal Office until 1985 during the republican period. The second floor of the building, which was renovated with major changes, was arranged as Atatürk's room and opened to visitors. In the Atatürk room, Atatürk's desk and chair, an Atatürk bust and picture, 2 carpets, the first Presidential Sign, a writing set and a clock are exhibited. On the panel on the wall of the room, there is Atatürk's address to the people of Havza.

History of the Building

The researches on the history of the “Mesudiye Hotel”, which was used as the Basin Headquarters of the 9th Army Inspectorate of Mustafa Kemal Pasha between 25 May-13 June (1919), unfortunately, did not definitively determine when and by whom this building was built for the first time. can't show it.

As it is understood from the Ottoman Land Registry records, even if he was not the one who built the building, the first person to turn it into a hotel and open it for business was a person named Hurdazlı İsa Efendi from the notables of Havza.

Isa Efendi, who ran the Mesudiye Hotel for a while, transferred the hotel to Ali Baba, who was also the contractor of the Maarif Hamam in 1917.

Ali Baba, who had his name written in the history of the National Struggle as "Hotelmaker who hosted Mustafa Kemal Pasha in the Havza", was originally from Darendeli and was born in Havza, although he was the son of one of the immigrant families who were brought to the Havza to grow tobacco on the lands distributed by the Reji Administration. and his youth years passed in Havza.

Upon the news that Mustafa Kemal Pasha would move his headquarters to Havza 6 days after he set foot in Samsun on May 19, 1919, Fahri Bey, the District Governor of the time, said that Ali Baba's Mesudiye Hotel, which was the most distinguished accommodation center in those years, was built at that time. With the phrase "Door Shutter" (all customers are evacuated) rented for 1 month and allocated to the Pasha and the rest of the military and civil servants in his Headquarters.

“According to the arrangement made, two opposite rooms on the first floor of the hotel in the north-west and north-east directions were prepared for the Pasha, one as the "Study Room" and the other as the "Bedroom". While some of the military and civilian officers in his entourage were placed in the rooms on the upper floor of the hotel, some of them were hosted in the mansions of the notables of the Havza.

Study Room: It is the section that Atatürk used as a study room between 25 May – 13 June 1919 when he was in the Havza. During his stay in Havza, he received many delegations that came to visit him here. Telegraph manipulation exhibited in this room; It is the first communication device that Mustafa Kemal Pasha conveyed to his friends, Army Commanders, Governors and other relevant people, especially the Havza Circulars. The first Presidential bill built for the Republic of Turkey is among the works exhibited in the study room.

Bedroom: Atatürk rested in this room during his stay in Havza. The bedstead, bed, bedspread and other bedroom sets in the room were all selected from the original items belonging to the years Atatürk came to Havza.

Basin Room: It is on the first floor. The most important work in this room is a document with Atatürk's handwriting (Ottoman) and his signature. It is a 12-item question list that Mustafa Kemal Pasha gave to Havza District Governor Fahri Bey, which he prepared as soon as he landed at the Mesudiye hotel when he arrived in Havza (accordingly, one day before he came to Havza) in order to have information about the Havza. A small photography exhibition on the Basin in the first years of the Republic, some photographs documenting the attacks and massacres organized by the Greek Gangs during the years of the National Struggle, photographs of the officers and civil servants who came to the Basin with Atatürk, and the "First Circular" of our National Struggle published by Atatürk in the Havza. Examples of the correspondence with which he was sent and the documents regarding the start of our War of Independence are exhibited in the Havza room.

Other Rooms and Halls: In the hall sections, items specific to the years when Atatürk came to the Basin, some weapons used in the National Struggle and various books describing the years of the National Struggle are exhibited. Among these items, including the dinnerware used by Atatürk, date back to the 19th century. The women's clothes, kitchen utensils, spinning wheels and living room set unique to old Turkish houses in the upper floor saloon section, which were used in the Havza region in the late and early 20th century, attract the attention of the visitors.

In the Havza, Amasya, Erzurum, Sivas and Ankara rooms, which are dedicated to the names of the cities that Atatürk went to / stayed in, held congresses and made the center of his work during the National Struggle, photographs of Atatürk's meetings in these cities and correspondences he made there. There are related documents and some information about the history of these cities.

The story of the historical Mesudiye Hotel's transformation into "Atatürk House":

“Historical Mesudiye hand” known as “Mustafa Kemal Pasha's 9th Army Inspectorship Basin Headquarters” was purchased from the owner of the building in 1338 (1922), Hurdazlı İsa Efendi for 4.500 Lira, and turned into a “Municipal Service Building”.

In this way, in the building where Municipal Services were held for more than 60 years, only “Atatürk's Study Room” was organized as “Gazi Room”, preserved in accordance with its historical texture and kept open to visitors.

After the Municipality moved to its new service building in 1984, the ownership of the "Mesudiye Hotel", one of which remained as a "Gazi Room" for about 10 years, was transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 1994 and donated to the Havza District Governorate, on the condition that it was turned into a museum. As a result of the first arrangement works carried out with the approval of the Governor's Office, it gained the identity of "Atatürk House".

"Mustafa Kemal Pasha's 9th Army Inspectorship Havza Headquarters" -Historical Mesudiye Hotel - opened to visitors as "Havza Atatürk House" under the auspices of the Havza District Governor's Office, was restored in 2001 in accordance with its original form and physically strengthened by the Ministry of Culture, "Havza Atatürk House It has been registered as a private museum.

Address: Medrese Mahallesi Atatürk Caddesi Havza/SAMSUN

Source: http://www.havza.gov.tr