The Monument of the Republic is a notable monument located at Taksim Square

Taksim Square

Taksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...

 in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 to commemorate the formation of the Turkish Republic

History of the Republic of Turkey

The Republic of Turkey was created after the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new Republican Parliament in 1922. This new regime delivered the coup de grâce to the Ottoman state which had been practically wiped away from the world stage following the First World War.-Single-party...

 in 1923. Built in two and half years with financial support from the population and unveiled by Dr. Hakkı Şinasi Pasha on August 8, 1928, it was designed by Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 sculptor

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 Pietro Canonica.

The monument was also constructed in order to challenge the taboos that had existed from Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 times that restricted the depiction of the human form, this was done in compliance with the Sharia

Sharia

Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

. The 11 m (36.1 ft) high monument portrays the founders of the Turkish Republic, prominent are depictions of Kemal Atatürk, who commissioned the work, his assistant İsmet İnönü

Ismet Inönü

Mustafa İsmet İnönü was a Turkish Army General, Prime Minister and the second President of Turkey. In 1938, the Republican People's Party gave him the title of "Milli Şef" .-Family and early life:...

, and Fevzi Çakmak

Fevzi Çakmak

Mustafa Fevzi Çakmak was a Turkish soldier , politician. Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire, National Defence Minister, Prime minister of Ankara government, the second Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Grand National Assembly and the first Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of...

. The monument has two sides, the side facing northward depicts Atatürk at an earlier period and the other one facing Istiklal Caddesi has Atatürk and his comrades dressed in modern, western-European clothing, symbolizing him in both his roles, as military commander-in-chief and as statesman.

Mikhail Frunze

Mikhail Frunze

Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.-Life and Political Activity:Frunze was born in Bishkek, then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Turkestan, to a Moldovan medical practitioner and his Russian wife...

, an important leader of the October Revolution

October Revolution

The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

, and Kliment Voroshilov

Kliment Voroshilov

Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...

, a Marshal of the Soviet Union

Marshal of the Soviet Union

Marshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....

, are among the group behind Atatürk. Their presence in the monument, ordered by Atatürk, points out to the military aid given by Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

 during the Turkish War of Independence

Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...

in 1920.

Cumhuriyet Anıtı is an important site, where official ceremonies on national holidays are being held.