Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish state and its first president, was born in  1881 in Thessaloniki, belonging to the Ottoman Empire at that time. The famous politician who significantly contributed to the secularization of the Turkish state, is idolized by the Turkish as a national hero. The quite sumptuous house where Atatürk was born, where he spent his childhood and where he returned in his youth when his family lived in the country near Thessaloniki was bought (at the occasion of the 10th anniversary of establishing the Turkish republic) by the then Greek prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, in 1933, and a museum was created on the place.

In the house which was, like all the Turkish houses of that time, divided into two parts (haremlik – the private rooms for the family, and selamlik – guest rooms and rooms for man visitors), you can see for example the living room, guest rooms, the room where Atatürk was born, and more rooms with the original furniture and other equipment or its replicas.

The museum is located close to the centre (in the northern part) at the junction of Agiou Dimitriou (St. Dimitrios Street) and Apostolou Pavlu (Paul the Apostle Street). The maps and tourist guides often don’t mention the place, but you can find it easily knowing that it is located next to the Turkish consulate - through which you can also access the house - if the security gate is closed, you need to ring the bell and ask if you can visit the museum. Then someone from the consulate or museum staff will ask you to walk through the metal-detector and produce your ID card. The entrance is for free and it is allowed to take photos.

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