On the trail of Atatürk in Samsun

Samsun is inordinately proud of the role it played in those events, and over the past few years, the authorities have worked hard to give concrete form to that pride. What was once a small and not especially impressive Atatürk museum beside the archeological one has now been moved into the much nicer Mantika Palas, an early 20th century building originally designed as a hotel and played host to Mustafa Kemal on three separate occasions. The Gazi Müzesi is now able to spread itself out over two floors and displays lots of photographs of Atatürk as well as a reconstruction of the room in which he stayed. Here too you can see some of his clothes and belongings, including a traveling suitcase complete with a personal barometer and a picnic basket that proves that Turkey's first president was not a man who believed in the virtues of traveling light.

It's mildly inconvenient, of course, that Atatürk should have been born in a part of the Ottoman Empire that is now firmly in Greece. Still, if you can't have the original birthplace, there's nothing to stop you from building an exact replica, and so it was that in 2006, a new “Atatürk Birth House” opened in Kutlukent, seven kilometers east of Samsun on Ordu Road. An imposing three-story house with wooden shutters, it's been provided with a replica kitchen, bedroom and sitting room, as well as with more photographs and a collection of outfits just like those Atatürk can be seen wearing in the pictures. Note that the house is only open on weekdays.

Returning to Samsun, you should hop out of the bus just before it passes a statue of an outsize pheasant in the middle of a roundabout. On the coast nearby is another reconstruction, this time of the steamship Bandırma, which brought Atatürk from İstanbul to Samsun in 1919. Onboard the ship you can inspect a room equipped with mannequins apparently attending a planning meeting. Then you can don silly plastic foot bags to descend into the hold and inspect yet more photos and souvenirs.

It goes without saying that there are several Atatürk statues dotted about town, including a fine equestrian version in the namesake Atatürk Parkı. Near this a new Kurtuluş Yolu (Liberation Way) has been laid out on the former site of a rather ramshackle market, now relocated. This leads down to the waterfront and yet more mannequins, this time stepping forth from a cut-down version of the Bandırma to embark on the journey to war.

It helps, then, to have an interest in Atatürk if you want to pay a visit to modern Samsun. However, it would be a mistake to run away with the idea that that is all it has to offer, because, like İzmir and Eskişehir, this is a town that has taken some rather unpromising material and converted it into something remarkably pleasant and livable.

At first glance, Samsun appears entirely modern, but in fact there has been a town here, albeit slightly to the west of the current center, since the Chalcolithic (Copper) Age, some 5,000 years ago. That town, called Amisos, continued into the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and recent excavations of the twin tumuli in the Baruthane district uncovered a pair of stone-cut tombs, one of them retaining some paintings that made it a unique find for this part of the world.

The tombs are now incorporated into an Archeological Park, accessible by cable car from the front of a giant statue of an Amazon that will eventually form the centerpiece of a small offshore island. The cable car deposits you in front of the Amisos Cafe, a local authority-run restaurant with great views, very reasonable prices and absolutely no alcohol. From there a wooden boardwalk winds around and offers admission to the cave-like chambers of the northern tomb, which is decorated with stylized columns. Unfortunately, the painted southern tomb is closed to visitors, who can only peer through the grille at what looks like some rather crass rebuilding.

The southern tomb provided some finds for the Archaeological Museum back in the town center, but the most impressive items on display there actually came from another tomb, which was uncovered in the nearby Cedit neighborhood. This tomb appears to have been built in the fourth century B.C. and reused in the first century A.D., when the deceased were buried with some magnificent golden jewelry, including a wonderful pair of earrings in the shape of Nike, the Roman goddess of victory, and some bracelets with clasps in the form of female faces. The museum also houses a fine mosaic pavement dating back to the fifth century A.D..

Most of Samsun's attractions are strung out along what is now an impressively landscaped waterfront. Just as Paris has its summer “beach” on the banks of the River Seine, so Samsun now has three beach clubs, complete with sun beds, paddle boats, flumes and all the other paraphernalia required for a good day out. In between them run parks with running tracks, cycleways and exercise machines. What was once a small, fairly uninspiring dock is now the Sevgi Gölü (Lovers' Lake) with black and white swans swimming around amid a series of tea gardens. Behind this is a small new zoo and a much more impressive suspension bridge across the railway tracks that has come straight from the pages of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne book of town-center regeneration.

What appears initially to be a complete absence of reminders of the period between Hellenism and Kemalism turns out, on closer inspection, not to be quite so absolute after all. Around Samsun's own İstiklal Caddesi there are several mansion houses of Moda-like magnificence, while in the market area to the west of Cumhuriyet Meydanı there are a few superb early 20th century buildings, one of them housing the belediye (municipality), another the Garanti Bankası. The heart of this part of town is a small clock tower dating back to 1886. If you walk west from it along İskele Caddesi, you will come to the Yalı Cami, which dates back to the 14th century; its name is a reminder that the sea used to lap against its walls and that the Sahil Yolu (Coast Road) was built on reclaimed land. Not far away on Buğday Pazarı Caddesi, the wonderful little Ali Paşa Hanı used to form part of a complex with the mosque. Today, it's slated for redevelopment. One can only hope that the swallows whose screeches currently fill its courtyard will be allowed to continue raising their young here into the new era.

WHERE TO STAY
Hotel Amisos: 0362-435 9400
Otel Gold: 0362-431 1959
Samsun Park Hotel: 0362-435 0095
Şahin Otel: 0362-435 2001
Vidinli Hotel: 0362-431 6050
 
HOW TO GET THERE
Samsun airport lies east of the center in Çarşamba; Havaş shuttle buses connect it with the town center. There are also regular buses to Ankara, İstanbul, Sinop and Trabzon.