Atatürk Mansion in Turkey’s northeast to be restored once more

TRABZON

The exterior plaster of the Atatürk Mansion in the northeastern province of Trabzon has been cracked, the paint on the walls swelled, and the marbles darkened despite extensive restoration conducted seven years ago.

The mansion will be refurbished with a restoration project prepared by a commission and approved by the Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board.

Trabzon Mayor Murat Zorluoğlu pointed out that the previous restoration and repair works have damaged the historical structure.

“Inappropriate restoration and repair work have made this place overpainted,” Zorluoğlu said, stressing that both the interior and exterior of the mansion will be repaired with scientific methods in accordance with the original.

The building is expected to reopen with a reception on Oct. 29, 2023, which corresponds to the centennial of the Republic.

Furniture, porcelain, and carpets from the 19th centuries, and ethnographic pieces including pictures and possessions of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, are exhibited in the mansion, where the founder of modern Turkey stayed when he visited the city in 1924.

During his third and last visit to the mansion in 1937, Atatürk decided to donate all his property there to the Turkish citizens and prepared a list of all his property, ordering the Prime Ministry at the time to handle the process.