Atakule is a 125 m (410 feet) high

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

observation tower An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, and woo ...

located in the Çankaya district of central

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and is one of the primary landmarks of the city. As the district of Çankaya is itself on a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

, the tower can be spotted from almost anywhere in the city during clear days. The tower's design came from

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Ragıp Buluç and the

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

works lasted from 1987 to 1989. The top section of the tower houses an open terrace and a revolving restaurant named Sevilla, which makes a 360-degree rotation in one hour. On top of Sevilla is another restaurant, Dome, which is non-revolving and located directly under the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. Under the terrace is a café, named UFO. The bottom structures house a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

and several indoor and outdoor restaurants. The tower was opened on 13 October 1989 by President Turgut Özal. The tower is now open to visitors after the rebuilding works of the shopping mall were completed. This tower is very similar to Milad Tower in the capital of Iran. In Turkish, the word ''ata'' means "ancestor" (or "father" in

Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...

), which is often used as a nickname (''Ata'') for

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey; while the Turkish word ''kule'' means "tower".

Atrium shopping mall

The

adjacent to the tower, Atrium, was also opened on 13 October 1989. It was the first modern mall in Ankara and the second in Turkey after Galleria in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, which was opened in 1987. The shopping mall was closed due to loss of popularity in the face of competition from an increasing number of more modern shopping malls in the city. It is now demolished and being rebuilt as a contemporary style shopping mall.

References

External links

Official website of the Atakule Tower
Towers completed in 1989 Towers with revolving restaurants Buildings and structures in Ankara Tourist attractions in Ankara Çankaya District Communication towers in Turkey Observation towers in Turkey 1989 establishments in Turkey {{Turkey-struct-stub

Atrium shopping mall

See also

References

External links