Trabzon - Atatürk's Mansion

After the proclamation of the Republic, Atatürk's great country tour, called the Autumn Trip, started from Dumlupınar. Atatürk, who came to Bursa from here, set off from Mudanya on 12 September 1924 with his Hamidiye cruiser. It was opened to the Black Sea by passing through the Bosphorus, and arrived in Trabzon at 11:00 in the morning of September 15, 1924. Atatürk was greeted with enthusiasm by the people of Trabzon. He was accompanied by his wife Latife Hanım and her close friends. He came straight to the City Hall. In the afternoon, they went to the mansion in Soğuksu, which was built for them and rested. The mansion was built in 1913, and after the proclamation of the Republic, it became the property of the Special Administration. It had four floors with a basement. The big room on the third floor was Atatürk's bedroom.

That evening, in the downstairs hall of the Mansion, Trabzon Mayor Kazazoğlu Hüseyin gave a dinner in honor of Atatürk and made a speech. Atatürk replied to this speech: (Gentlemen, I saw almost all the people of Trabzon as a mass of solid sincerity. I saw tears in the eyes of women, children and old people. This is what a high feeling, this compassion, this nobility.) He thanked the people of Trabzon.

The next day, after visiting the schools, hospital and yarn factory, he left Trabzon on the morning of 17 September 1924 and went to Rize.

After Atatürk's visit to Trabzon, the mansion belonging to the private administration was bought by the Trabzon Municipality and given to Atatürk as a gift. A Trabzon delegation came to Ankara and handed over the title deed and keys of the Mansion to Atatürk. When Atatürk came to Trabzon from Samsun on the Aegean ferry on 27 November 1930, he spent the night again in this Mansion and returned to Istanbul after staying two nights. The mansion is now known as (Atatürk's mansion), and the people of Trabzon were proud of this mansion.

Atatürk's third and last visit to Trabzon coincides with the date of 10 June 1937. Atatürk, who came to Trabzon from Istanbul on the Aegean ferry, came directly to his own Mansion and spent two nights in this Mansion. On this last visit, he had registered that he had donated all his property and possessions to the treasury by saying: "Goods and property give me weight. I will feel relief by donating them to my nation. Man's wealth should be in his own spiritual personality. I want to give more things to my great nation." Atatürk returned to Istanbul from Trabzon on the morning of 12 June 1937.

After Atatürk's death, Trabzon Municipality decided to open the Atatürk Mansion as Atatürk Museum. He exhibited Atatürk's belongings and photographs. Today, the full text of Atatürk's speech on his first visit to Trabzon hangs at the entrance of the Mansion. In the small hall on the right, the full text of Atatürk's speech hangs. The small room on the right is equipped with photographs of Atatürk's life and his visits to Trabzon. In the adjacent room, there are armchairs and sofas where Atatürk rested. The following sentence is written on the plate on one of them. (Atatürk signed here on 11 June 1937 the treatment that they left their personal real estate to the nation.) The other room is furnished as Atatürk's dining hall.

On the third floor of the mansion, there is Atatürk's bedroom, bathroom, aide-de-camp rooms and a study hall. Today, the mansion is recognized as one of the most beautiful houses of Trabzon with its large flowery garden, and is open to visitors as the Atatürk Museum under the management of the Municipality.

Source: www.kultur.gov.tr