Erzurum Congress Museum
On July 3, 1919, at the time of preparation for the National Liberation War, Ataturk arrived in Erzurum from Sivas. On the night of July 8-9, he sent a telegraph to the last Ottoman Sultan, Vandettin announcing that he resigned from the military and had returned to “the bosom of the nation”. In Erzurum, preparations were begun for a great Congress. You can check our Istanbul and Trabzon tour package from Istanbul.
Shortly afterward, on July 23, 1919, the Erzurum Congress began in an old school in the district of Kavaf and continued for 14 days until August 6, 1919. The school where the Congress was held had been built in 1877-8 as a middle school after the Ottoman-Russian wars. After the Congress, it was used as an Art School from 1920-21, as Sultani high school from 1922-23. and in 1924 was burned to the ground after a short period as a primary school. The special administration of Erzurum province built a new school on the same site, which opened in 1926 as Gazi Primary School. Later, in 1940, the school was turned into Ataturk Construction Art School, as it remains today. Even though the original building was burned down, a room of the new building on the site where the Erzurum Congress took place was taken over and made the location of Ataturk and Erzurum Congress Museum in 1960. On a large table in the room are marble plaques inscribed with the names of the 53 delegates who attended the Congress. On the walls and in showcases are photocopies of the minutes, documents, declarations and telegraphs concerning the Congress, together with photographs of the delegates and short biographies, various photographs of Ataturk, a photocopy of his Tenth Year Speech in his own handwriting, and oil paintings of some of Erzurum’s historical monuments. Erzurum is one of the most popular city for the tourists.