The Assembly Hall
Original benches under a painted wooden ceiling, and the rostrum where the Nutuk was read in 1927, now occupied by a wax Atatürk.
Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dosseman — CC BY-SA 4.0
From this wooden rostrum, between 15 and 20 October 1927, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk read the Nutuk, his marathon speech of roughly thirty-six hours spread over six days, and a wax figure of him now stands in the same spot to greet you. That is the heart of the Republic Museum in Ulus: the second building of the Turkish parliament, in service from 1924 to 1960, where the deputies of the young state passed the laws that remade the country. The building has a good story of its own. Vedat Tek designed it in 1923 as a headquarters for the ruling Republican People's Party; when the First Parliament proved too cramped it was turned into a parliament before it was finished, and it opened on 18 October 1924. It is a textbook piece of the First National Architecture movement, which tried to build a new Turkish identity out of Seljuk and Ottoman ornament: pointed arches, tiled panels on the facade, and painted wooden ceilings above the debating chamber. After parliament moved out in 1960 the building housed the CENTO alliance from 1961 to 1979, then was restored and opened as a museum on 30 October 1981. The visit is short. You see the General Assembly hall with its original benches and galleries, then the president's study and reception hall, the prime minister's study and the Speaker's chamber dressed with period furniture, and galleries of belongings of the first three presidents, Atatürk, İnönü and Bayar: spectacles, fountain pens and medals, plus the microphone from which Atatürk gave his Tenth Anniversary speech. The display runs over two floors, with labels mostly in Turkish and English, nothing in Arabic. If the early Turkish republic leaves you cold, the tour will feel a little dry; if it interests you, this is one of the best places to feel it. The museum stands on Cumhuriyet Bulvarı opposite the historic Ankara Palas hotel and a few steps from the First Parliament building (the War of Independence Museum); the natural plan is to do both in about ninety minutes before climbing to Ankara Castle. Expect stairs to the upper floor, so leave a pushchair at the entrance, and small children will tire quickly, though the wax Atatürk in the big hall usually holds them for a moment.
Original benches under a painted wooden ceiling, and the rostrum where the Nutuk was read in 1927, now occupied by a wax Atatürk.
The president's and prime minister's offices with period furniture, plus the medals, pens and spectacles of Atatürk, İnönü and Bayar.
Vedat Tek's pointed arches and tilework, an early attempt to build a modern Turkish identity from Seljuk and Ottoman ornament.
Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No. 2/10, Ulus, Ankara
Ankara Palas MuseumThis is the building where the new elite of the Turkish Republic learned to walt1 min walk4.5
War of Independence Museum (First Parliament)On a Friday in the spring of 1920, the congregation walked out of Hacı Bayram Ve3 min walk4.8
Gençlik ParkThis was a marsh in the low ground below the old town until a 1936 cabinet meeti5 min walk4.3
Roman Baths of AnkaraWhat you are looking at is not a bath but its underside: hundreds of stubby bric8 min walk4.4
Hacı Bayram MosqueA single wall separates the tomb of a Sufi sheikh who died in 1430 from a Roman 8 min walk4.9If you only have time for one, the Second (the Republic Museum) is the finer building and has the richer collection; the First (the War of Independence Museum) is smaller and plainer but carries more weight, since the republic was proclaimed there in 1923. They are two minutes apart on foot, so do both in about ninety minutes.
Honestly no, except as a short stop. It is documents and objects behind glass, labelled in Turkish and English only, and the upper floor means stairs. The wax figure in the big hall amuses them for a few minutes; after that, move on to Ankara Castle or the nearby Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.
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