Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery

The Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery (Turkish: Edirnekapı Şehitliği) is a burial ground located in the neighborhood of Edirnekapı, in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It consists of an old, historical part and a modern one.

Contents

• Edirnekapi edirnekap martyr s cemetery
• Notable burials
• References

The cemetery is said originally to have been formed with the graves of the Ottoman soldiers, who fell in the battle during the Second Ottoman Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453, where the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI established his command and the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II made his triumphal entry into the conquered city. There is however no historical or archaeological evidence for this, the oldest known graves date from ca. 1600 AD. The cemetery is situated outside Edirnekapı (literally: Edirne Gate), historically the Gate of Charisius of the city walls, on top of the sixth hill of the old city.

The old part of the cemetery, including an area called "Mısır Tarlası" (literally: Corn Field), hosts graves of personalities from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The other part of the cemetery consists of two grounds, Edirnekapı Cemetery and Sakızağacı Cemetery. Soldiers, who fought and were wounded in the Russo-Turkish Wars, Balkan Wars and the World War I, and died in Istanbul after hospitalization, were interred in Edirnekapı Cemetery. The General Command of Mapping denotes the number of such historical graves with around 13,000.

Military personnel of the Turkish Army, Navy and Air Force, personnel of the police force, firefighters and Turkish Airlines have all separate departments in the cemetery.