In May 1919, when Turkey was under the essential control of post WWI allied powers, Atatürk was dispatched by steamer to Samsun to quell a minor uprising in the region. Instead, he took charge and parried the rebellion into a full-scale independence movement. The rest is history. The jetty at which he arrived has been rebuilt to feature a miniature steamship and a whole series of waxwork figures watching the frozen-in-time moment of the great man's arrival.
The site is 500m northeast of Cumhuriyet Meydan following Kurtuluş Yolu, here a wide, obvious walkway that leads directly towards the waterfront. If you're excited by the 1919 story you can climb aboard the actual boat, the Bandırma Vapuru, moored 4km southeast in 'National Struggle Park'. Round out the Atatürk experience by dropping into the Gazi Museum where he stayed during one of his later visits to the city.
