INTRODUCTION

Ottoman cemetery culture is one of the most effective factors in the historical texture of Istanbul. The surviving tombs, enclosed graveyards, large cemeteries and gravestones reflect this. Likewise, foreign travelers also reflected the dimensions of this culture in their descriptions. In consequence of the conquest of Istanbul, the Turkish settlement following the conquest, and eventual increase of the population, Muslim cemeteries started to develop in the city. It is possible to examine the Istanbul cemeteries in two groups: independent cemeteries outside the city walls and other residency areas and the tombs and closed graveyards within the city. After the end of fifteenth century, it is seen that the independent cemeteries started to be established outside the city walls. In fact, it proves the existence of a conscious practice that the lands of many cemeteries, including non-Muslim ones, located between Yedikule-Haliç and Hasköy-Galata districts were belonged to the Sultan Bayezid II’s foundation. Similarly, many cemeteries such as the ones in Merkezefendi, Silivrikapı, Edirnekapı and Kasımpaşa, the Big and Small Graveyards in Beyoğlu, in Ayaspaşa, especially the ones in Eyüp and Karacaahmet, the big-small graveyards of villages and districts including the ones belonged to non-Muslims were developed along with this trend. However, the big graveyards such as Karacaahmet and Ayaspaşa were outside the residency areas in the early years, in time they have been attached into the urban areas. As in the cases of Eyüpsultan, Yahyaefendi and Merkezefendi cemeteries, in the course of time some of the graveyards which used to compose of just a tomb and a mosque, turned into big cemeteries, even larger than enclosed graveyards, as a result of people’s high esteem and burying their dead around them. In other words, the tombs around them were eventually turned into big cemeteries. Some of the big cemeteries have partially or fully disappeared because of dense population and new burials in the course of time. The rest of them were naturally remained in the city limits.

As in other central cities of the Empire, maybe even more densely, the burial sites of the Ottoman Turks of the capital city Istanbul were not just consisted of the independent cemeteries outside the residential areas. In addition to them, people buried their dead around hundreds of tombs and the graveyards established near the religious and social endowment buildings located in the city limits. The number of such burial sites increased in the course of time. In addition to the big cemeteries, there were many tombs or enclosed graveyards that were either independent or built next to a madrasa, school, or charity institutions like soup kitchens (imarethane) etc. The members of Ottoman dynasty, state officials, and religious dignitaries were buried in the yards of the mosques and dervish lodges, which were either constructed by them or on their behalf. Some of them were also buried in independent places and a tomb was built above their graves. In time enclosed graveyards were developed around such places.

The special burial grounds (called sofa) constructed within the cemeteries in Istanbul or in relatively small places in which the family members and relatives of certain bureaucrats and administrators of the time were buried can also be listed as part of the cemeteries of the city. Section reserved for the members of dervish lodges or professionals can frequently be seen near such special burial grounds for families (sofas). Some of these special burial grounds were even encircled by hewn stonewall and their inner sections were raised by filling with earth. In fact, to a foreigner who were bewildered when he saw cemeteries all around the city and claimed that they were not very hygienic, Yahya Kemal’s responds by stating that “we live together with our deceased,” which also presents how Muslims approached to death, deceased, and the cemeteries.

The cemeteries of Istanbul most of which were established on the lands of endowment were managed by the Office of the Secretary of Gravediggers (Mezarcılar Kethüdalığı) which was in charge of graves and burials. The employees of this office like Âbkeş (water carrier), duagû (an official appointed to recite prayers) and hafız (reciter who has memorized the whole Quran) and stonemasons, and those who came to visit the cemetery were a part of daily life of the cemetery. However, after all of the responsibilities of the cemeteries were taken from the endowments and started to be taken care of by the municipality, such services disappeared.

CEMETERIES

Although the big historic cemeteries that used to be outside the city but were attached to the city in the course of time have been damaged by road restorations and new burials, almost all of them have survived to this day. The only exception is the historic Ayaspaşa Cemetery, which used to extend over the slope of the hill from Gümüşsuyu, Beyoğlu to Fındıklı. The only remnants of this cemetery are a couple of gravestones kept in the yard of German Consulate. It is possible to list the main historic cemeteries which have survived from the Ottoman period – excluding the ones established during the period of Republic of Turkey – in accordance with their districts:

Üsküdar
Karacaahmet Cemetery

It was the biggest and most famous cemetery of Istanbul and the Empire. The reason for that it attracted so much esteem of the residents of Istanbul was linked to that it was located in the Anatolian side of Üsküdar and therefore located in the same continent with Mecca and Medina i.e. the spiritual centers of Muslims. It was named after Karaca Ahmed one of the legendary figures from Anatolian dervishes (Abdalân-ı Rum) who lived in the fourteenth century and whose tomb is located in the same cemetery.

This cemetery, which lied on a very vast area in the Anatolian part of the city, used to comprised of five regions, namely Miskinler Dervish Lodge, Saraçlar Çeşmesi, Şehitlik, Musalla and Duvardibi, and twelve blocks. It lied on a slope extending from Gündoğumu Street in Üsküdar on the North down to Kızıltoprak (Zühtü Paşa) Mosque on the South. Except some empty spots, it continued all the way along historic Bağdat Avenue. However, in time, part of this biggest and oldest cemetery of the city has been lost because of public improvements and discrepancies in the records of the municipality and the Land Registry Office. Despite all the loss, it still extends over a 750,000 square meter area. Various tree types like cypress, sycamore, laurel, and nettle, and several species of birds and plants make the cemetery look like a forest. The enchanting atmosphere of the cemetery has impressed the foreign travelers, painters and photographers and thus it has become the subject of portraits, engravings, and paints. Even though the graves in the eight blocks of the cemetery facing the Çiçekçi district are open for new burials, it is the less damaged section of the cemetery. The majority of the graves in the tenth block of the cemetery, which is located on the south of Karaca Ahmed Tomb, are historic ones. The sixth block, which was probably on the south extending down towards Haydarpaşa, was destroyed by constructing new roads. The cemetery in Ayrılık Çeşmesi, which is an extension of the sixth block, was put under protection at the beginning of 1970s with a project prepared by the Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (Türkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu). The first, fourth, and fifth blocks, which are located between the above-mentioned blocks, constitutes the center of the cemetery. Unfortunately, because of the new burials the old graves in those blocks were all destroyed. However, on the East side of the cemetery, there are still some of the old gravestones in the sections far from the entrances. About 300-400 of those stones were removed from their places to open space and lined randomly up in concrete. On the East of Karacahmet cemetery around Seyyit Ahmet Brook, there is an Iranian cemetery where Iranians and Shiis are buried.

In this area, there is also a group of graves that attracts attention. In the fourth block of the cemetery, there are about 200-300 graves of the villagers from Ormana Village of the town of Akseki, Antalya. Those people lived in Istanbul and buried during the period of Republic. This same phenomenon which can be observed in other big cemeteries proves that cooperation and solidarity among the people coming from same cities continues even in the cemeteries.

There are six dervish lodges, a prayer house, three mosques, seven water fountains, and several wells in the neighborhood of Karacaahmet Cemetery. There are many special burial grounds (sofas) in Karacaahmet Cemetery. The most important one of them is the calligraphers’ sofa established close to the head calligrapher Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi’s grave dated 1520. Even though the oldest gravestone which has survived until today is the one belonged to Şeyh Hamdullah Efendi, most of the present gravestones are from the nineteenth century.

Nakkaştepe (Bahri Baba) Cemetery

It is located on the slopes of Nakkaş Baba Valley facing towards Beylerbeyi on the North East of Kuzguncuk district. It is named after Baba Nakkaş who was one of the artists brought from Tabriz by Sultan Selim I and who is reported to have been buried in this cemetery in an open grave. According to the findings of M. Nermi Haskan, its name comes from Nakkaş Hasan Paşa (d. 1622) one of the viziers of the era of Sultan Ahmed I. On Nakkaştepe, which is at commanding ground over Bosporus, there is a military headquarter for the artillerist and infantry where a cannon used to be fired five times at the enthronement ceremonies and other festivals. The oldest gravestone in this cemetery is dated 1810. The special burial ground of Şeyhulislam Üryanîzade Ahmed Esad Efendi’s family is in this cemetery. The first head of Beylerbeyi Bedevî Settariye dervish lodge Şeyh Muhammed Hamil Efendi (d. 1906) (moved to this cemetery in 1943), Bestekâr Şevki Bey (d. 1890) and Rauf Yekta Bey (d. 1935) are also buried in this cemetery.

Bülbülderesi or Selânikliler Cemetery

Although this cemetery that is located between Üsküdar and Bağlarbaşı is not an old one, it is important because of its special characteristics. In this cemetery, there are the graves of “Dönmeler (converts)” who converted to Islam from Judaism under the leadership of Sabbatai Zevi in Salonika in the seventeenth century. The history of those graves goes back to the nineteenth century. The graves that are found in the upper sections of cemetery have certain spatial, formal, and artistic features that cannot be seen in any other cemeteries in Istanbul. These graves made from high quality marble are adorned with some elements such as cut pillars, covered ash vases, open books etc. just as one can see in cemeteries in South Europe.

Eyüp District

The name of the district of Eyüp come from the name of the Prophet’s Companion Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who came to fight in a siege of Istanbul and whose tomb and mosque are located at the center of this district. This is why, this district has become a spiritual center and visiting place for Muslims. As a result of believers’ love for this place, it has always come at top of the list of the places where they want to be buried and in time it developed, as if, into a “spiritual city.” The mosque, in fact, is surrounded by many tombs and covered graves in different sizes. By those graves surrounding three sides of the mosque, there are the tombs of the members of the dynasty and palace, viziers, seikh al-Islams and other high-ranking government officials as well as hundreds of gravestones of middle and high-ranking officials and their relatives. Even though the oldest stones are from the seventeenth century, burying dead to this cemetery continued until the twentieth century. However, there are pieces from the gravestones of sixteenth and even fifteenth centuries piled up behind the tomb.

Eyüp Cemetery

In addition to the tomb and covered burial ground located around the mosque, a big cemetery developed in the course of time on the slopes of the hill rising on the north. In this cemetery, there are Nakşibendî Kaşgarî Dervish Lodge, Bektaşî Karyağdı Dervish Lodge and Piyer Loti Coffee House which is named after an Istanbul admirer French writer Pierre Loti. The oldest gravestone dated 1513 in Istanbul was in this cemetery until 1983. Again there are some, though not many, gravestones left from sixteenth century. The gravestone of the historian and statesman İdris-i Bitlisi who passed away in 1520 is outside the main cemetery and located at the corner of the Bitlisi street and Eyüp-Gümüşsuyu road. The graves of some important figures such as Şair Fitnat Hanım (d. 1780), the nineteenth century’s great composer Zekâî Dede Efendi (d. 1897-1898), Kara Ahmed (d. 1902) who won the first World wrestling championship in 1900, Sheikh Küçük Hüseyin Efendi (d. 1930), Turkish Republic’s the first chief of general staff Fevzi Çakmak (d. 1950) are in this cemetery.

How can one forget Eyüp cemetery? We went there one evening around sunset (...) A light boat took us to the end of the Golden Horn and we went up to the Ottomans’ “sacred land” from a highly aslope path surrounded by graves on both sides. At this hour of the evening, those who worked in the graves all day and the sculptors who filled this big cemetery with hammer sounds had left and it was quiet. (...) We excitedly reached Eyüp Mosque the lightened domes and the fine minarets of which we could see from the hills across the banks and in all the coves of the Golden Horn. By the walls of Byzantine, under the shade of big sycamore in the yard rises the Prophet’s famous flag bearer’s mansion-like tomb which is lightened continuously by oil-lamps, and found by Sultan Mehmed I himself. Sultan Mehmed I founded this mosque for him where Ottoman sultans girded their swords with a ceremony. This is why, as the grave next to it is the most blessed one of the graves, this mosque is the holiest one of the mosques in Istanbul. Under the great trees around the mosque rise the tombs of sultans, viziers, and the members of the palace that are surrounded by flowers, shining with marbles and gilded arabesques, embellished with spectacular inscriptions. The tomb of sheikh al-Islams are at a separate place and they are covered with an octagon dome. Under this dome, great scholars of religion are buried. Above them there are big black sarcophaguses on which is placed a turban made from thin veil. This magnificently quiet place like an aristocratic district is a white, shadowy, and extremely beautiful city graves that inspires spiritual sadness along with the feeling of worldly respect. The greenery in the cemetery dangles down the white walls. Branches of acacia, oak, and myrtle rise over the walls and between the bars. We see the marble sarcophagus painted by green shadows of the trees in a beautiful light emanating between the gilded iron laces covering the arched windows of the tomb. In no other place in Istanbul, Muslim art which beautifies the depiction of death and makes it to watched without fear can be manifested in such a graceful manner. This is a cemetery filled with sadness and grace, a palace, a yard, and a temple that inspire both prayers and a smile on the lips (Edmondo de Amicis, İstanbul (1874), tr. Beynun Akyavaş, Ankara 1993, pp. 349-352).

Surdışı (Outside the Intramural City)

Silivrikapı Cemetery

Because of new burials, the number of old gravestones are gradually decreasing. There are 149 Ottoman gravestones in this cemetery the oldest one of which is dated 1522. Rest of them is left from eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Usually people from middle class are buried in this cemetery.

Merkezefendi Cemetery

It gets its name from the nickname of the sheikh of Sünbüliye Sufi order Muslihuddin Musa Efendi who passed away 1551-1552 and whose dervish lodge and tomb are located in this cemetery. The mosque next to it was built by Sultan Selim I’s daughter Şah Sultan. It is the cemetery that hosts 1,091 gravestones belonging the Ottoman period which is the highest number among the cemeteries of the outside the city walls. The oldest one of the gravestones is dated 1694-1695. Most of them are left from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and belonged to middle class people.

Old Topkapı Cemetery

This is the smaller part of the cemetery divided into two parts by the street constructed in 1973 as part of the highway planning. In this cemetery, there are 240 gravestones from the Ottoman period. The gravestones removed from area turned into a park are also brought to this cemetery. The oldest one of these gravestones is dated 1625-1626. One of the prominent sheiks of Melamî Sufi order Sarı Abdullah Efendi’s (d. 1660), and Poet Süleyman Nahifî’s (d. 1738-1739) graves are in this cemetery. About 35 of the gravestones that are placed to a high ground and surrounded by walls witness an historical event. Those stones belong to Kethüda Yusuf Ağa, his family and servants who were killed in 1807 Kabakçı Rebellion.

Edirnekapı Martyrs’ Cemetery

It is the biggest cemetery in outside of the intramural city with its 28,000 square meter area. Despite its proximity to the highway, it is not destroyed much maybe because it is a martyrs’ cemetery. While it was an old cemetery, it was changed by burying those who passed away in military hospitals in Istanbul during Balkan Wars and World War I. After 1926, the Western part of the cemetery was turned into a military cemetery. The police and firefighters who die on duty are also buried in this cemetery. The grave of Gerçek Davud (d. 1733-1734) who is claimed to be a person who developed a new pump type in order to help to put out the fires more effectively is in this cemetery. The graves of some Ottoman firefighters (tulumbacı) were also moved to this cemetery. About 50-60 gravestones go back to mid-eighteenth century. In the second part of the cemetery, there are graves of 13 people from the Nemlizade family who died between the years 1903 and 1933 and also the graves of some people from Kavalızade family. And also the garves of several important personalities such as Seikh al-Islam Mehmed Celaleddin Efendi who passed away in 1919, Yusuf Akçura (d. 1935) veya Mehmet Akif Ersoy (d. 1986).

Edirnekapı Cemetery

Even though one third of it has been destroyed because of the highway constructed on its Western part, it is known as the cemetery the Ottoman period gravestones of which are the best protected. Most of it belongs to middle class bureaucrats, members of various Sufi orders and their relatives who passed away eighteenth century and afterwards. The great poet of sixteenth century Bâkî, Seikh al-Islam İbn Kemal, Seikh al-Islam Dürrîzade family, the satire expert İncirli Mustafa Çavuş (d. 1632), calligrapher İsmail Zühdî Efendi (d. 1806) (the calligraphy of the inscription on his gravestone has the signature of his brother famous calligrapher Mustafa Râkım Efendi.) Likewise, the graves of many people who migrated from the Balkans between the years 1850 and 1940 also draw attention.

Davutağa Cemetery

Just west of the highway, it is between Otakçılar Mosque and Aşçıbaşı Mosque. It is the cemetery which has the most Ottoman period gravestones second only to Edirnekapı Cemetery. However, this is because of the tombstones brought there because of the highway construction. In fact those stones put in an order. Most of them belong to the period after the second half of eighteenth century and the oldest tombstone is dated 1570.

Tokmaktepe Cemetery

It was one of the oldest cemeteries in Istanbul and extending from Eğirkapı to the Golden Horn. There are reports that those who died by the walls on the landside of the city during the siege were buried in this cemetery. This cemetery, which is known that it had many gravestones from the end of fifteenth and beginning of sixteenth centuries, was sacrificed for the highway planning in 1950s. This is why there is only a few small pieces that could survive until today.

Old and New Kozlu Cemeteries

In old Kozlu 91 and in New Kozlu 424 gravestones are identified from the Ottoman period. Most of those in New Kozlu are the ones collected and brought from the neighboring cemeteries in order to open space for new burials. The oldest gravestone in Old Kozlu is dated 1705-1706 and the oldest one in New Kozlu is dated 1665-1666.

Çamlık Cemetery

In this cemetery which is Topkapı district, 288 gravestones are identified from the Ottoman period. Although there is a tombstone dated 1566-1567, rest of them are left from eighteenth-nineteenth and beginning of twentieth centuries.

Maltepe Cemetery

It is guessed that some of the soldiers who fell martyrs in the sieges of the city before its conquest were buried in this cemetery located by the city walls close to Topkapi in the district that carries the same name. The oldest one of the 132 Ottoman period gravestones is dated 1626-1627.

Ayvalık Cemetery

In the four sections of this cemetery located in Silivrikapı, there are a total of 255 old gravestones the oldest one of which is dated 1659-1660. Rest of them belongs to seventeenth century and the following periods. The heads of Tepedelenli Ali Paşa, his two sons and one grandson who were beheaded by Sulan Mahmud II in Yanya are buried in this cemetery.

In addition to these cemeteries in outside the intramural city, there are 43 in Tahir Efendi Cemetery and 54 gravestones in Dedeler. These stones belong to eighteenth century and the following periods.

Beyoğlu

Taksim-Ayaspaşa-Gümüşsuyu Cemetery
(Grand Champs des Morts)

This cemetery that was located on the northern borders of Beyoğlu, which is both an old and new place of settlement, and used to extend from Taksim to Dolmabahçe and from there to Fındıklı, has not survived to this day. It used to be known by the name “Grant Cemetery (Büyük Mezarlık).” Because the vast land from Dolmabahçe to Fındıklı was an endowment of Sultan Süleyman I’s vizier Ayas Mehmed Paşa, this section of the cemetery is known by his name. Some important personalities such as Historian Silahdar Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa and journalist Şinasi and those who were from among the veteran of the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War (the War of ‘93) and died in the hospitals of Istanbul were buried in this cemetery. Ayaspaşa Cemetery, which became the subject of travelogues and depicted in engravings because of the vast area it covered, was left in ruins before the World War I. In the photographs of the cemetery, which was located in the Pervititch’s map dated September 1926, taken from the air during the World War I years, it can be seen that it was covered with cypress trees. This big cemetery was destroyed by interventions and occupations that took place at various times. When Sultan Abdulmecid was building Dolmabahçe Palace in the middle of the nineteenth century, he had the Palace Theater and stables constructed to the slopes over Dolmabahçe. In 1909 during the government of the Committee of Union and Progress, the bones in some of the graves were transferred to other places. Despite all opposition and protests because of the graves of the martyrs of the War of ‘93, Cemiz Topuzlu, prefect of Istanbul, opened the cemetery area to settlement in 1912. After transferring the cemetery from the Endowments to the Municipality of Istanbul in 1933 and opening its remaining parts to construction, the path to its complete destruction was opened. In fact, the increase in the value of this land led to its division into plots and sale, despite all discussions, which eventually brought to its end. The graves transferred to other places, the cemetery was divided into plots and sold. Then over the areas sold buildings began to rise. Many well-known buildings in Taksim district were built on this land. Most of the gravestones were destroyed or used in construction sites. Some of them are still kept in the yard of German Consulate.

Tepebaşı-Kasımpaşa Cemetery (Petits Champs des Morts)

It was located on the west of Beyoğlu and used to be known as “Small Cemetery (Küçük Mezarlık).” This cemetery, which has been completely destroyed, extended from the Genoese Walls in Galata down to the upper sections of Yahya Kethüda district over the Kasımpaşa ridges. At the top of Şişhane Slope or the part where Meyyitzade (Lohusa Kadın) Dervish Lodge is located, there was last surviving part of the cemetery, which has been recently destroyed. It is known that the cemetery that was located in continuation of Beyoğlu Cemetery and called Çürüklük Cemetery was developed upon old Greek and Genoese cemeteries. Tozkoparan Cemetery, which was named after famous Turkish archer Tozkoparan Ahmed Efendi was also part of Beyoğlu Cemetery. One can still come across standing or buried gravestones in the last section of this cemetery called Aşıklar Cemetery. There was no burial in this cemetery in 1860s and the existing graves were destroyed in the course of time. The last remaining parts of the cemetery were removed by minister of marine Cemal Paşa’s order in 1914. In Pervititch’s maps (1926) and in 1934 city guide, the part of Refik Saydam Street facing towards the Golden Horn is marked as Beyoğlu Cemetery. The end of the first section located at the beginning of Şişhane slope used to extend up to the entrance of the tunnel. During the excavation works of the Tunnel in the eighteenth century, special care was shown not to destroy the graves. Mostly the members and families of Sufi orders in Kasımpaşa and tradesmen were buried in Çürüklük Cemetery. Evliya Çelebi’s family, Yanık Şeyh Ahmed Efendi (d. 1773), Kâdirî Sufi master İsmail Efendi (d. 1838), Üsküdar Toygartepe Rifaî dervish lodge sufi master Saçlı Hüseyin el-Hâdî Efendi (d. 1852) are some of the most famous people buried in Beyoğlu Cemetery.

Kasımpaşa-Doymazdere-Kulaksız Cemetery

It lies between the Kasımpaşa-Hasköy road on the south and Old Archers Dervish Lodge on the north. However, because of the new burials, one may come across almost no old gravestones.

Abbasağa Cemetery

This cemetery, which has not survived to this day, was in Beşiktaş at the same place where Abbasağa Park exists today. This cemetery which was named after the mosque built by Abbas Ağa the chief eunuch of the Sultan’s palace used to be a place where dead was buried after the seventeenth century and covered with sycamore trees. All of the trees in this cemetery were cut and all gravestones were removed and destroyed in 1939. In 1941 new trees were planted and the land was turned into a park.

Boğaziçi

Beşiktaş Yahya Efendi Cemetery

This cemetery was developed in time around the complex consisting of a dervish lodge, mosque, madrasa, library, water fountains, and a tomb that were built on the slope between Beşiktaş and Ortaköy and endowed by Üveysî Sufi order master and a college professor Yahya Efendi (d. 1571) the foster brother of Sultan Süleyman I. In the cemetery, there are about 2,200 gravestones 2,141 of which are numbered. Except the graves of Yahya Efendi and his relatives buried in the tomb, the rest of the gravestones are from the years between the second half of the nineteenth century and first three decades of the twentieth century. First high-ranking state officials, and after the beginning of twentieth century members of the Ottoman dynasty were started to be buried to the tomb of Ottoman princes and women existing next to the main tomb. The gravestones of some important figures that are known to be buried in this cemetery in the earlier years in the seventeenth century unfortunately could not reach to this day. Because new burials are usually done in the family burial grounds left from the Ottoman period, this is one of the well-protected cemeteries. And because most of the gravestones belong to high-ranking state officials, it is possible to see the most beautiful samples of calligraphy, engravings, and stonemasonry on those stones. On 79 of them, it can even be seen the signatures of 33 calligraphers including Bakkal Arif Efendi, Beşiktaşlı Nuri Korman, and Mısrîzade Ali Efendi.

Aşiyan/Kayalar Cemetery

It is narrated that the development of this cemetery, which is located between Bebek and Rumelihisarı and just below the Fortress, began by burying the workers and soldiers who died during the construction of the fortress. However, the oldest one of the existing gravestones is dated 1728-1729. Because it is still used today, the number of gravestones from the Ottoman period has been decreased. The adherents of Durmuş Baba dervish lodge which probably first belonged to Gülşeniye, and then Şabaniye Sufi orders were buried in this cemetery. Some famous artists such as Tevfik Fikret, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Orhan Veli Kanık, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and Münir Nurettin Selçuk are also buried in this cemetery.

Rumelihisarı Martyrs’ Cemetery /Nafi Baba Cemetery

Turks came to the place, which was called Martyrs’ Cemetery or the Hill of Martyrs’ Cemetery in the earlier sources, but is known today as Nafi Baba Hill long before the construction of the Fortress. Although there are narrations about that the Martyrs’ Cemetery Dervish Lodge (Convent) was built by Seyyid Şeyh Bedreddin in the fifteenth century, it is difficult to enlighten its history up to mid-nineteenth century. Because Bektaşî Nafi Baba (d. 1912) served there as the Sufi master of the lodge for 53 years, it is also known by his name. The lodge that was demolished during the abolishment of janissary corps in 1826 was later reconstructed. The dates of 194 gravestones, together with the 7 stones, which are known to have existed in the cemetery but not anymore, are left from the years after 1750 except the first 7 of them. These gravestones belong to 186 people. Nonexistence of gravestones from earlier dates shows the extent of the destruction. Even though all of the stones seem to be from the mid-fifteenth century except one of them dated 1688-1689, this is doubtful. One of the three stones with the date 1451-1452 is a maqam (place built for someone’s memory) stone (Hadha maqam-ı shuhada). The name Saka Baba is written on the other one, which does not exist today. The third one belongs to “al-Seyyid al-Şeyh Bedreddin who came with Sultan Mehmed I and was one of the relatives of Akşemseddin.” However, the inscription on this stone was not written on that date but later with jail taliq calligraphy style. Two of the tombstones which comes from earlier dates belong to Mahmud Çelebi who was known as “the martyr of conquest” and “the martyr.” These two tombstones one of which does not exist today are not dated. From the existing gravestones, it is understood that the martyrs of conquest, Bektaşi dervishes, distinguished figures, and other members of the society are buried in this cemetery.

Anadolukavağı Cemeteries

About 218 gravestones from the Ottoman period are identified in the Small Martyrs’ Cemetery, Grand Martyrs’ Cemetery, Ayazma and Village cemeteries located in this far away district of Anatolian side of the city. Their dates are between the years of 1591 and 1923-1924.

Çakmak Dede Cemetery

In this cemetery, which is located at the center of Beykoz district, there are 126 gravestones from the Ottoman period. Their dates are between the years 1602/1603 and 1864/1865.

Şahinkaya Cemetery

In this cemetery located on Şahinkaya Street in the Beykoz district, there are about 149 old gravestones the dates of which are between seventeenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth century.

Mihrimah Sultan (Kanlıca) Cemetery

About 300 old gravestones dated between 1595 and 1925 exist in this cemetery, which is named after Sultan Süleyman I’s daughter, Mihrimah Sultan. It lies between the coast and steep hillside. Among the gravestones, there are also some that belong to high-ranking state officials and their relatives and have artistic value. The graves of Şeyhülislam Yenişehirli Abdullah Efendi (d. 1740-1741) and his relatives are in this cemetery. New bodies also continue to be buried to this cemetery.

Anadoluhisarı Cemetery

It is established on the banks of Göksu Stream and it is the best-protected cemetery on the Anatolian side of the city. Even though the oldest stone is dated 1497-1498, most of them are from the eighteenth and beginning of nineteenth century. There are also new graves. In this cemetery there are 390 gravestones left from the Ottoman period. It is remarkable to see so many gravestones in such a quiet district away from the center on the Anatolian side of the city. This district where only Muslims used to reside in the earlier periods was an important administrative center of the Anatolian bank. It is however, seen that after losing its significance after the nineteenth century, new burials started not to occupy the spaces of old graves.

Kandilli Cemetery

It is located between Kandilli and Küçüksu on the slopes facing towards Küçüksu. In the lower sections of this cemetery close to the road there are graves left from the eighteenth century, while those in the upper sections are new ones. The graves of statesman and writer Recaizade Mahmud Ekrem (d. 1913) and his sons Nijad and Sunullah Emced are in this cemetery.

Eski Vaniköy Cemetery

From the cemetery that is located below Kandilli Female High School and on the coast, only 57 gravestones have survived to this day because of road expansion and reconstruction works of the High School. Their dates are between the years 1738-1739 and 1863-1864.

In addition to these, there is a big cemetery and martyrs’ cemetery in Çengelköy district behind Kuleli Military High School and a small cemetery in Küplüce above the Beylerbeyi district. However, the fact that mostly non-Muslims lived in those districts by the twentieth century and the fact that the graves are mostly located far from the coast show that they did not exist before the nineteenth century.

Other Districts

Bakırköy Cemetery

One hundred and thirty-seven gravestones are found in the cemetery located on the north of train station. 38 of them are from the second half of the eighteenth century, 93 of them from the nineteenth century and rest of them from the twentieth century. In this cemetery, there are many graves of high-ranking military officers, bureaucrats, and their families.

Sahrayıcedit Cemetery

One third of this triangle shaped cemetery, which is located in Kadıköy district on the north of Sahrayıcedit Mosque, is from the Ottoman Period. However, they belong to the period after the last part of nineteenth century. In this cemetery, there are the graves of many high-ranking officials of the last period of Ottoman State.

Merdivenköy Bektaşî Dervish Lodge Cemetery

The cemetery of this dervish lodge also known as Şahkulu Sultan Dervish Lodge is located in the region between Sahrayıcedit Cemetery and E-5 Ankara highway. Mostly the members of this lodge are buried in this cemetery. There are gravestones of 45 Bektaşi dervishes around Ali Mansur Baba’s 5x1.5 meter grave at the entrance. They are left from the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the beginning of twentieth century. Around Şahkulu Sultan Baba’s 3.4 meter long grave, there are graves left from the seventeenth century. In this cemetery’s special section know as Kırklar Cemetery there are gravestones mostly left from the nineteenth century. Among them are the graves of the officer of the palace stable Seyyid Muhammed Efendi’s seven relatives who died from plague in 1824-1825.

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The above-mentioned ones are not all of the historic cemeteries in Istanbul. There are many more cemeteries that have not survived until today as well as those that have survived but had few old graves, or more precisely old gravestones, because of the new burials. There are also small and old cemeteries left inner parts of the districts.

Since it is impossible to deal with all of the historic cemeteries in this article, we have presented information only about the big ones that consist of relatively more old gravestones. Naturally in the period of Republic many new cemeteries are established and continues to be opened. When these cemeteries were first opened, they were outside the residency areas or in the border districts. However, in time they have been added into the city. Because of the intensive burials, in these cemeteries inside the city today there is not any space left in these cemeteries.

Cemeteries of Istanbul are divided into two main regions except Beyoğlu region where Istanbul Metropolis municipality, Directorate of Cemeteries, is located. These two regions are further divided into four districts in Istanbul (European) side of the city and three districts in the Anatolian side of the city. The total number of old and new cemeteries has exceeded 320 (270 of them have been provided in the table given below.) It is inevitable to see in Istanbul an increase in the number of daily burials that is currently around 200 in average.

TOMBS AND COVERED BURIAL GROUNDS (HAZIRAS)

Tombs or Maqams (places built for the memory) of the Companions

There are 29 tombs related to the Companions and their Successors who are believed to have come for the conquest of Istanbul and become martyr in military expeditions. Most of them (16) are located in the region between Ayvansaray and Kariye Museum. Others are in Eyüp (4), Karaköy (3), Kocamustafapaşa (2), Topkapı, Şehzadebaşı, Sultanahmet, Eminönü (and in Üsküdar Karacaahmet Cemetery). Among the companions who are thought to be buried in Istanbul, only historical records exist for Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Eyüp Sultan). Evliya Çelebi mentions that there were many companion graves with gravestones engraved by Kufi style calligraphy in Keskin Dede Cemetery in Fatih district and the cemetery behind the shipyard in Kasımpaşa, but they have not reached to this day. Likewise, it is narrated that there were many companion graves in Toklu Dede covered burial ground in Ayvansaray. In fact, most of the existing companion graves are in Ayvansaray.

There are reports in the sources that Abu Shayba al-Khudri was a Companion who was buried in the tomb constructed by Sultan Mehmed I in Toklu Dede covered burial ground in Ayvansaray. There are also reports that he became martyr by the city walls during the sieges of Istanbul. The information that Hamdullah (Ahmed?) nicknamed “al-Ansari”, Abdullah, Muhammed, Jabir b. Abdullah and Husam (Hisham?) b. Abdullah and Abdurrahman al-Shami, Wahb b. Hushayra, Abdullah al-Khudri, Amir, Hafir, Shu’ba, Daya Hatun and Hasan-Huseyin brothers who have graves in the above-mentioned tombs and haziras were companions is usually based on either the inscriptions on the gravestones of the Ottoman period, especially the ones left from nineteenth century, or the narrations. In is known that Abu al-Darda, Abu Dhar al-Ghıfari, Abu Said al-Khudri, Qa‘b, Jabir b. Abdullah (b. Samura), and Amr b. al-As passed away in other places and at other times, such as Abu al-Darda in 31 H, Abu Dhar al-Ghıfari in 32 H, and Amr b. al-As in 43 H, in ther words long before the conquest. It is also known that Sufyan b. Uyayna and “Karimatain” (Double Sultans) were from the Successors, not from the Companions. Therefore, it is obvious that the tombs and graves attributed to them are maqams (places built for their memory). Even though Baba Jafar, Edhem Efendi, Ali al-Muhtadi and Muhammed b. Jabir al-Ansari were neither from the Companions nor from the Successors, people believed them to be so.

It is a common tradition to build more than one tombs and graves for the prominent figures of religion and Sufism who have left traces in Islamic culture out of love felt for them. Considering that one person cannot be buried in more than one place, rest of the tombs and graves are called “maqam” and built to remember him/her, to keep his/her memory fresh, and to be close to him/her. It is also believed that the city has been honored by having his/her grave and gained an Islamic identity and thus legitimized the city.

It is remarkable that a significant number of the tombs were constructed or renovated during the sultanate of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839) even during the years followin the abolition of the janissary corps in 1826. The inscriptions on these tombs which were composed by Sahaflarşeyhizade Vakanüvis Esad Efendi and written by the expert of Taliq style calligraphy Yesarîzade Mustafa İzzet Efendi also constitute some of the best samples of Ottoman art.

Other Tombs and Hazires

Hazires are one of the most prominent characteristics of the cities in the Ottoman geography, especially the capital Istanbul. Hazire means the cemeteries that develop around certain buildings in the city and are surrounded by walls or iron bars. Hazires in the life of the city are like places where life and death intersect or come face to face. Cemeteries in Ottoman Istanbul were constituted from the big ones located in surdışı region or outside the intramural city– at the time –, cemeteries in the districts of Eyüp, Üsküdar, Galata (Beyoğlu) or Boğaziçi and in the villages, and the tombs and hazires in and outside the city walls. The hazires that we will talk about here are the ones see usually around certain social and religious centers such as prayer houses, especially mosques, dervish lodges, madrasas, tombs, libraries, water fountains, and bathhouses. These hazires sometimes consist of a tomb or a few graves and sometimes become big enough to host a couple of hundred graves. According to a research, the number of monuments recognized as religious and social centers in the intramural city reaches up to 489. However, there is no hazires in most of these places, but only the tomb or grave of the founder of the place.¹ According to another study, it is found 146 in the intramural city, 17 on the north of the Golden Horn, 13 in outside the intramural city, and 47 in Üsküdar or a total of 223 hazires in Istanbul. However, as expressed by the author, this number is not all of the existing hazires.²

The hazires developed around some of the mosques built by the sultans, their sons, their mothers, viziers, and around the convents such as the convents of Aziz Mahmud Hüdayî, Tophane Kâdirî Sufi order and Kocamustafapaşa Sümbüliye order, and some dervish lodges such as Galata and Yenikapı Mevlevî dervish lodges, Merdivenköy Şah Kulu Bektaşî Dervish Lodge, and some tombs such as the tomb of Sultan Mahmud II are the ones with high number of graves. The following can be given as example for the main haziras located in the intramural city: Fatih, Beyazıt, Süleymaniye, Şehzade, Sokullu Mehmet Paşa, Atik Ali Paşa, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa, Mahmut Paşa, Davut Paşa, Cerrah Paşa, Murat Paşa, Küçük Ayasofya camileri, I. Abdülhamit, Turhan Valide Sultan, Hüsrev Paşa ve Şeyh Vefa türbeleri, Damat İbrahim Paşa, Kara Mustafa Paşa, Koca Sinan Paşa, Köprülü Mehmet Paşa and Haseki Sultan madrasas, Aydınoğlu dervish lodge, Yusuf Paşa and Bekir Paşa schools, Ragıp Paşa and Esat Efendi libraries, Amcazade Hüseyin Paşa Kulliyah, Hacı Necip Bey Fountain, and Hacı Mehmet Emin Ağa water fountain.

We also need to deal with the issue of whether hazires existed in Istanbul since the beginning or when they developed. Because in almost all of the monuments of the intramural city with hazires built between the conquest and sixteenth century there are very few gravestones left from fifteenth, sixteenth or even seventeenth centuries. In other words, even if the hazire was built by an old monument, most of the gravestones existing in it belong to eighteenth, nineteenth and the first quarter of the twentieth centuries. It is understood that most of those hazires of early period are limited only with the tomb or grave of its founder (or his/her relatives). It is perhaps possible to say that the situation is not very different about the hazires built in the districts outside the intramural city. Therefore we can easily argue that the tradition of building hazires began by the graves of the founder (or his/her relatives) or if the building is a dervish lodge then with the grave of the founding Sufi master. Maybe burying those people to the yard of the building seemed attractive at the time provided that the building was a frequently visited place and there was available space for the burial.

We can give example for this development process of hazires: Burials in the yard of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) which is a mosque converted from a church and considered the oldest mosque in the city started two centuries after the conquest and tombs started to be built for the sultans and for the members of the dynasty after the period of Sultan Selim II, but other than these graves and tombs no hazires developed around it. The gravestones found in the hazires of the three early period Sultan mosques, Fatih, Beyazıt and Süleymaniye Mosques, have the dates of later periods. Even though the oldest gravestone in the hazire of Fatih Mosque is dated 1479, it is renewed at a much later time. The date of the second oldest gravestone reads 1740. The dates of most of the 425 identified gravestones beginning from the latter date to 1983, the date of the last one, belong to the years between 1888 and 1921.

Although the oldest gravestone in Beyazıt Mosque is dated 1623-1624, the dates of most of the 55 gravestones belong the years between 1785 and 1835. Likewise even though the oldest one of the 104 gravestones found in the hazire of Süleymaniye Mosque is dated 1607-1608, most of them are from the second half of the nineteenth century. The situation is not different in the haziras of the early period vizier mosques or other monuments like Şeyh Vefa Mosque and the tomb of Abu Shayba al-Khudri.

On the other hand, in the nineteenth century one does no longer see complexes and tombs built by high-ranking state officials. It is thought that the economic crisis experienced by the state in this century was probably the reason of this situation. Moreover, even though a government order was issued in 1868 banning the burials in the intramural city and residential areas, it is seen that this ban was not observed in certain hazires as in the cases of Fatih and Süleymaniye Mosques as well as the Tomb of Sultan Mahmud.

What would be the reason for the establishment of hazires and tombs around the buildings from which people benefit or pass by every day? In order to be able to answer, we should first mention that all those buildings around which there is a tomb or hazire were endowments. First of all, it is understood that the founder’s request to be buried next to his endowment when he/she passes away should have been considered reasonable by the endowment administration and the public considering that it was his/her right. Besides, this practice, i.e. the tradition to build the founder’s tomb next to his/her endowment, existed long before the Ottomans. On the other hand, the process started with endower’s tomb or grave continued with the establishment of a cemetery, in other words a hazire, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries burials reached their most intensive period.

It is obvious that there were many reasons for this demand. Looking at the issue from the founder’s or builder’s perspective, he/she presents the endowment and its building with the thought that it would meet people’s religious or social needs. Some of the elements of Islamic belief such as the thought to go to the hereafter with honor and the belief that the book of deeds of those who establish endowments will not be closed should have been influential in his attempt. Moreover, it is understood that he/she aimed to remind those who benefit from his/her endowment that he/she was the provider of the service and thus to ensure to get their prayers. For all these reasons, it has become a common practice to bury the founder of the endowment next to his/her building and build graves or tombs over it.

As for those buried in hazires, in time in the Ottoman geography the door opened by the founders of endowments began to be used by their families, relatives, servants, slaves, endowment employees, and personnel. They started to be buried next to the endowed building. Depending on the features and significance of the building, one may see the people other than the above-mentioned ones buried in the hazires. If the founder was a sultan or a vizier or someone from the sultan’s family, their graves stayed at the center of the hazire, while his/her relatives, servants etc. were buried around the tomb, in the yard, or to the places near the road according to their relationship with the founder and their ranks. In the hazires of big and important buildings, one can see the graves of high-ranking stated officials. Their graves and gravestones are usually spectacular and have high artistic value. For example, the hazire of Süleymaniye Mosque was a place where official protocol was followed. The remarkable graves of viziers and high-ranking military officials are lined up on the sides of the path going from the entrance of the hazire to Sultan Süleyman I’s tomb.

It seems that some people desired to continue to show their rank, position, and reputation that they had while they were alive in the place and appearance of the graves. And as in the case here, they also wanted to benefit from power of founder’s influence after they pass away. On the other hand, those who benefit from the services of the building probably say prayers and recite chapter Fatiha from the Qur’an for the soul of the founder when they pass by his/her tomb. The above-mentioned people also wanted to be buried in the hazire next to the tomb in order to benefit from this spiritual feast.

From the perspective of the people buried in the hazires, we see a different picture in the case of the hazires of dervish lodges or similar buildings. One can see the graves of people from all levels of society who adhered to the Sufi order or had a connection with the lodge, especially the graves of its masters. According to the populace addressed by the lodge, people from middle class were buried in some of those haziras, while some others, such as the mawlawi dervish lodges, were dominated by “intellectuals” and “high-ranking state officials.” Thus, the haziras of those places provide us information about the prototype of their adherents, their distribution in the society, and the populace they addressed.

About the location of the hazires, two characteristics attract our attention: one of them is that the hazire was located on the qibla direction of the building and the other one is that it should be able to seen by those who pass through the road or the yard. The hazires of Şehzade Mosque and Yeni Valide Mosque in Üsküdar are the best examples to show the level of care in this respect. There is another characteristic on the side of the hazires facing towards the road or the yard. As known, in Islamic burial tradition, the body is buried its face turned towards and its body parallel to the qibla. While the gravestones are usually placed vertical to the qibla. The inscription is engraved inner side of the headstone while outer side of the footstone. However, hazires front facing towards the road or to the yard, especially the stones of the graves on the first row are placed facing towards qibla, thus parallel to the yard or the road. The inscriptions and engravings of the gravestones are naturally engraved on the side that could be seen by the people passing by. In this way, they get the chance both to deliver easily their request for prayer to their visitors and to provide them the opportunity of empathy for them. Because on some of those gravestones, it is not confined with just request for the recitation of Fatiha, but certain statements reminding death to the visitor are also added:

The intention of the visit to say an immediate prayer
If today it is for me, it will be for you tomorrow

Look at my gravestone through the sight of taking heed
Nobody know my situation until it happens to them

O visitor with bright sight! Stop! Don’t pass for sake of Allah!
Have a glance at this pure grave by a heart taking heed,

Alas! From death!
O visiting believer
Bestow me a Fatiha
My body is scattered
Revive it by praying for it

Such statements are like the reflections of some verses from the Qur’an embroidered on the clothes covered the coffins such as “Every soul shall have a taste of death”³ or “the death from which you flee, that will surely overtake you”⁴ in the consciousness of the people. These statements, gravestones, and especially hazires, which occupy a place in the daily life, continuously remind the reality of death to those who are alive. When the owners of the gravestones introduce their identities and ask for prayer, they also remind death to those who are alive. They assume the task of a warner and in a way show a “yellow card.” Hazires carry out this mission collectively which is done by gravestones individually, because they are a different way of expressing the meaning of prophetic saying “visiting cemeteries reminds death,”⁵ or the laconic inscription on Caliph Umar’s ring reading, “death is enough for you as a preacher”⁶ which he had it written not to forget death.

Even though death is an inevitable fact of life, today it has turned into a phenomenon not wanted to be remembered. Thus, in consequence of certain forcing reasons like population growth and lack of enough space, cemeteries have been pushed out of the environment we live in today. Despite all these, the nestedness of surviving hazires into the daily life, the addressing of the gravestones, as if they are the spokesperson of their owners, to those who pass by them, asking from them prayers and Fatihas, reminding death by being an example or by actually mentioning it show that they obstinately carry out their functions.

LIST OF CEMETERIES IN Istanbul

The List of Main Covered Grave Grounds in Istanbul

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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FOOTNOTES

1 Nicolas Vatin and Stéphane Yerasimos, Les Cimetières dans le Ville: Statut, Choix et Organisation des Lieux d’Inhumation dans Istanbul Intra Muros, Istanbul: Institut français d’études anatoliennes Georges Dumézil, 2001, pp. 87-178. Like this important research which presents an inventory of the tombs and haziras in the intramural city, new inventory studies should be carried out for other districts of the city especially Eyüp and Üsküdar.

2 Hans Peter Laqueur, Hüve’l-Baki: İstanbul’da Osmanlı Mezarlıkları ve Mezar Taşları, translated by Selahattin Dilidüzgün, Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı, 1997, pp. 207-216.

3 al-Ankabut, 29: 57.

4 al-Jum‘a, 62: 8.

5 Muslim, Janaiz, 106.

6 Süleyman Uludağ, “Ölüm (Tasavvuf)”, DİA, vol. 34, p. 37.