House of Kemal reopened with new exhibits

One of the most popular tourist sites in the town of Thessaloniki, the House of Kemal Ataturk, reopened to the public on October 29th, the National Republic Day of Turkey. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, was born in 1881 at this particular house and lived there until the age of 7, when his father passed away and his family left Greece.

The museum in the center of Ano Poli reopened in August 2013 after a three year renovation, during which the belongings of Kemal Ataturk were sent to Turkey. As a result, a lot of complaints about no important exhibits were received from visitors and made the Turkish Ministry of Culture send back a large number of exhibits.

Visitors can now admire 50 personal belongings of Kemal Ataturk, including the military hat, vest, tobacco pipe and many more. There is also a silicon model of him when he was young sitting at the kitchen table and his mother Zubeyde Hanim watching him. Over the last 14 months, this museum has become a key tourist attraction for Thessaloniki, attracting six times more visitors per year than before its renovation.