Anitkabir Mausoleum, Ankara (must see)

Anıtkabir is a mausoleum located in Ankara that serves as the final resting place for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. It was designed by architects Emin Onat and Ahmet Orhan Arda, whose design won a competition held by the Turkish Government in 1941. The mausoleum also contains the tomb of İsmet İnönü, the second President of Turkey, who was buried there in 1973.

The construction of Anıtkabir started in October 1944 and took nine years. The site consists of four main parts: the Road of Lions, the Ceremonial Plaza, the Hall of Honor (where Atatürk's tomb is located), and the Peace Park surrounding the monument. The monument is characterized by its immense, symmetrical, cut-stone-clad structures. The mausoleum also features Seljuq and Ottoman architectural and ornamentation styles.

The Anıtkabir project is considered a remarkable engineering project and was included in the Turkish Chamber of Civil Engineers' list of fifty civil engineering feats in Turkey. All the stones and marble used in the construction of the monument were brought in from various parts of Turkey. The ten towers situated within the Anıtkabir site symbolize the ideals that influenced the Turkish nation and the creation of the Republic of Turkey.