Ulus Square
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Ulus Square () is a square in
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 ...
. "''Ulus''" is the Turkish word for "Nation".


Geography

The square is actually a crossroad of four streets at about . The boulevard to south is Atatürk Boulevard and the street to the north which is the continuation of Atatürk Boulevard is Çankırı Street. The street to the south west is Cumhuriyet Street and the street to the east is Anafartalar Street. ( Atatürk is the founder of modern Turkey,
Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is a city in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. It is the seat of Çankırı Province and of Çankır ...
is the name of a city to the north of Ankara, ''Cumhuriyet'' means Republic and Anfartalar was the location of a critical battle during the Gallipoli Campaign.) The only open area of the square is an area allocated to the Statue of Victory to the east of the square.


History

Before the formation of Republic of Turkey, Ankara was a typical
Anatoli Anatoli () is a town and a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land b ...
an town. The only important trade center of Ankara was ''Taşhan'' (i.e., "Stone inn") which was built in 1880s. The neighborhood around Taşhan was also called Taşhan. After Ankara was included in the railroad network in 1892, Taşhan became one of the most important quarters of Ankara and after the Young Turk Revolution the
Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...
built its Ankara branch office building to the west of Taşhan. During the
Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
this building was used as the parliament of Turkish nationalists. After the war a square was built to the east of the parliament building . The earlier name of the square was ''Hakimiyet'i Milliye'' ("National sovereignty") but eventually the name Ulus came into use. A statue was erected in the center of the square. The statue which was called Statue of Victory was designed by Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel was completed on 24 November 1927.Ankara sculptures page / Ulus Atatürk Anıtı tarihçesi (17 August 2009)
/ref> In 1960s however the square was redesigned and the boulevard was shifted slightly to west, so that now the statue is to the east of the boulevard. After the passing of the surname law in 1934, the famous Taşhan family got their last name due to the "Stone Inn" that was located in the center of the square.


Transportation

All public buses from center to north pass through Ulus Square. Although there is also a subway station named Ulus actually it is about south of the square.


Gallery

File:Victory Monument in Ulus Square, 1st Turkish Grand National Assembly, 1930's (17075286852).jpg, Ulus Square in 1930s File:Sabah Ulus Meydanı.jpg, Former Parliament building to the west of the square File:Ankara asv2021-10 img71 Republic Museum.jpg, Former Parliament building to the west of the square File:Ulus Square 2015.jpg, Ulus Square in 2015 File:Ulus Square 2019.jpg, Ulus Square and Türkiye İş Bankası building in 2019


References

{{Ankara Squares in Ankara National squares Architecture in Turkey Ulus, Ankara