Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, and one of the most architecturally striking monuments of the 20th century. Built between 1944 and 1953 on a hilltop in Çankaya, it commands views over the city and is approached through a long ceremonial Lion Road flanked by Hittite-style stone lions. The scale is deliberately monumental: this is a building intended to communicate the permanence and ambition of the republic Atatürk created.
Inside, the Hall of Honour contains Atatürk's symbolic sarcophagus — the actual tomb is below. The surrounding complex includes a museum of Atatürk's personal effects, documents, and military history, and the Ethnography Museum building where his body was held before the mausoleum was completed. Changing of the guard ceremonies take place throughout the day. Admission is free; entry is subject to respectful dress.