Sarayburnu Atatürk Monument

The first Mustafa Kemal Atatürk monument built in Turkey is located in Sarayburnu Park in the Fatih district of Istanbul. This location is also the place where the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey sailed by ship to Samsun in 1919.

The statue, construction of which began in 1925, was completed about 14 months later and opened with a ceremony by Emin Erkul, the mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality of the period.

Its Sculptor is Heinrich Krippel. The Austrian sculptor stayed in Turkey for about 13 years and made Atatürk sculptures for many cities. He has brought in numerous works such as Konya Atatürk Monument and Ankara Victory Monument. The statue, made in Vienna, was brought to Turkey in pieces and put together under Krippel's supervision and placed in its location. Atatürk's statue on a rectangular pedestal with inscriptions on three sides is made of bronze. The inscriptions do not exist today.

Ataturk, in civilian clothes, is depicted in a stable and dynamic way in the statue. He's frowned and his eyes are squinting. One hand is down at the waist, the other fist is clenched. It is one of the few statues of Atatürk in civilian clothes because he was usually depicted in military clothing later on. It is among the most visited Atatürk statues.