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Karacaahmet cemetery: A Brief History

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N. Truth Seeker
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« on: September 27, 2022, 03:09:41 pm »




Karacaahmet Cemetery, medieval Istanbul.  Artist Eugene Flandin.


The only thing certain in life is death. Rich or poor, powerful or weak, young or old, black, white, brown or yellow, everyone will eventually depart from this fleeting world on their Final Journey, leaving behind their physical remains.

In the Ottoman era, cemeteries were a part of daily life, in that, people visited beautifully maintained cemeteries not only for the graves of their loved ones, but also for peaceful relaxation and fresh air. 

It was convenient to have most cemeteries within city limits.

Known in Turkish as Karacaahmet Mezarligi (Karacaahmet Cemetery), it’s a 700-year-old historic site.  Located in Uskudar, a neighborhood in the Asian side of Istanbul, Karacaahmet Cemetery was built in the mid 1300s, the oldest in Istanbul.   Being located on the Anatolian part of the city, it was on the same continent as Makkah and Medinah, a significant reason for attracting plenty of attention and held in esteem by the people of Ottoman Turkey.

With an area of 750 acres, Karacaahment Cemetery is the largest burial ground in Turkey.  In fact, it was the largest in the world in medieval times.  It is still one of the largest globally.


Vintage photo of Karacaahment Cemetery, Uskudar, Istanbul, 1800s.

A non-profit cemetery, no less than 150 million people are buried there according to official figures given by the municipality of  Uskudar. 

The cemetery was named after Karaahmet Ahmet Sultan, a 13th-century physician also inclined toward sufiism and a friend of the second Ottoman ruler, Orhan I.  The cemetery was open for all burials since the rule of Murad I, son and successor of Orhan I.

Around the 750 acres of this cemetery, there is an open prayer place, at least three mosques, seven pretty fountains, two schools and a hospital.  In medieval Ottoman times, a portion of this cemetery was reserved to house lepers to protect the healthy people of the community.


Photograph, the old large gravestones in Karacaahment Cemetery.  All medieval paintings by orientalists display similar gravestones.

Karacaahmet Cemetery is a resting place for many public figures – poets, politicians, scientists, artists, academics and more.  The place is still actively used for burial.  It’s a cemetery where Muslims of all denominations – Sunni, Shiia, Sufi – are buried. But there is a slight catch in that.   Muslims of different walks of life have their own halls.  For example, the Calligraphers’ Hall where many Turkish calligraphers are buried including the famous Hamdullah Efendi.  The common opinion is that in a cemetery as large as this, the different categories representing the old Turkish-Ottoman guilds help visitors to locate the graves they are looking for.  That may be right, but quite certainly Karacaahmet would be a better place without such classifications.  Segregation based on social and sectarian labels is bad enough in life.  It certainly should not be allowed in cemeteries.  However, it is also opined that the overall atmosphere of diversity and harmony overrules all earthly divisions.


Tayyip Erdogan at Karacaahmet Cemetery.

The Karacaahmet Cemetery is also known as the place to appreciate writings with old Turkish alphabets based on the Arabic script. This way of writing the Turkish language was common until 1928, when a corrupt and treacherous man named Kemal Atatürk decided to change Arabic-Turkish alphabets into Latin.  Unfortunately, monuments of those interred in this cemetery after 1928 show the Latinized alphabets.  But the old and artistic tombstones and mausoleums are still beautifully preserved with the original Arabic-Turkish writings carrying detailed stories of the lives of many buried here which enchanted visitors love and admire.  Reportedly some parts of the Karacaahmet Cemetery have been damaged and few very old graves destroyed because of municipal works.  Nonetheless, it remains the biggest cemetery in Turkey and probably the world, and continues to be an attraction which no visitor to Istanbul wants to miss.


Erdogan and his wife at Karacaahmet Cemetery.

Additionally, the Karacaahmet cemetery is also a spectacle of natural beauty.  A well maintained forest-like area, it is filled with trees such as cypress, laurel, hackberry and many smaller plants. A variety of trees and plants have also attracted many species of chirping songbirds inside the Karacaahmet Cemetery.  The place has been synonymous with scenic backdrop and the people residing close around this area are considered fortunate. Tourists love to visit and talk about it.  It’s a cemetery that is mentioned in various Turkish poems and also referenced in the works of several European authors. 

Turkey is a place well-known for many historic cemeteries.  Below are some paintings of Turkish cemeteries in medieval era.


Women visiting cemetery in Ottoman Turkey 1700s, author unknown.


This is a painting of a portion of Karacaahmet cemetery, Ottoman Turkey, early 1800s. Art Eugene Flandin.


Cemetery near the Rumelihisarı fortress in the  banks of the Bosphorus, Ottoman Istanbul.  Art Eugene Flandin.


Women visiting the Eyup cemetery, Istanbul Ottoman Turkey 1835. Art Amedeo Preziosi, watercolor.


Elderly man walks inside a cemetery in, Istanbul with view of  Sulmaniye Mosque and the Bosphorus. Art Halil Pasha. Sulmaniya Mosque built in 1550. 


Related post:
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Zainab_M
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« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2022, 04:09:55 am »



What an interesting write-up.  Thanks brother.  I too wish they didn't have those different parcels dedicated to people of different walks of life.  Nonetheless, since they have preserved it well, is enough to ask.  In regard to most Muslim graveyards in various Muslim countries, they don't seem to care much about preservation.  This one looks really beautiful, even the older parts of it still hold that pristine look and beauty.  Subhan'Allah.

And the rest of the paintings on Turkish cemeteries are gorgeous.  Alhumdulilah.
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« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2022, 04:58:11 am »



Mash’Allah, what a wonderfully maintained graveyard.   The idea of monuments  only around the border of the grave and the center filled with green grass looks so beautiful.  I don’t really agree with the practice of bringing flower bouquets and placing them on the graves as many do in Pakistan.  The flower petals dry up, wither and get scattered, making the place look untidy and there’s no one to clean it until someone visits it next. 

Btw, how to they cut the grass growing on the graves?  Is the work done manually or with some electronic device?
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Heba E. Husseyn
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« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2022, 10:22:14 pm »



We visited this place in 2007 when my family and my sister’s family went to Istanbul on vacation.  Then we took a private tour and went to Karacaahmet cemetery, a total stay of just 20 minutes which was hardly enough to see much.  The entrance through which we went mostly consisted of the old graves with tall gravestones which were lovely to watch, saw quite a few with Arabic-Turkish inscriptions.  Very beautiful.   Didn’t look as prim and proper as Erdogan’s parents’ graves where he and his wife are photographed standing, in fact that pristine look in old graves are much more beautiful.  Alhumdulilah.
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« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2022, 10:27:25 pm »



O you went there?  🙂  Was it the whole family?
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« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2022, 10:29:15 pm »



Yeah,  entire family and also my sister’s.  Altogether we were a total of about 15 or 16 of us, kids and adults  .. and thus quite a noisy band of holiday makers  😁  The kids back then were very young.  Now when we talk about it they know it was a cemetery.  At that time they went running all over thinking it to be a pretty picnic spot with cypress trees.   No doubt the place looks so pretty.
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« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2022, 10:33:05 pm »



Interesting sister Heba 🙂
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« Reply #7 on: October 02, 2022, 10:35:38 pm »



LOL, kidos keep us going  😃

I didn’t know those were the graves of Erdogan’s parents.   I get it now.  No wonder the spick & span clean-up.   Was his mother’s name “Tenzile” as one of the gravestones says?
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« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2022, 10:39:19 pm »



Yeah, her name was Tenzile and his dad was Ahmet who is buried next to his mom.  That entire hall is for the VIPs.  If you take a better look at the photo where Erdogan is standing alone, you can see a small gate at the far end, opposite.   I’m quite sure the general public aren’t allowed to cross the gate and come into the VIP hall of the cemetery, neither for interment of a loved one nor for sightseeing.  I hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty certain that’s the way it is.
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« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2022, 10:43:39 pm »



hummm ....

Are any of the old Ottoman sultans also buried here?
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« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2022, 12:39:56 am »



That’s a good question.  Generally they had their own mausoleums in the premises of Mosques, educational institutions or libraries which they built, or close to their residential palaces.  I don’t know of any Ottoman sultan interred in Karacaahmet cemetery.  However, there’s another very old, large and beautiful graveyaard in Turkey called the Eyup cemetery where several medieval famous personalities are buried including some Ottoman sultans, their families, high ranking religious authorities, court members, viziers, military commanders, civil servants, intellectuals, scientists and artists.  This cemetery is another historic landmark. It’s located on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey.

It has a nice history too.  Started with the burial ground of Abu Ayub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet (pbuh), martyred in a war with the Byzantines in, what was then called, “Constantinople.” It was his wish to be buried as close to the city walls as possible.  Later in 1453 when Constantinople was conquered and named Istanbul by the Ottomans, Ayub al-Ansari’s grave was monumented and a mosque constructed close-by called the Eyup Sultan Mosque. From then onward, this place became a popular burial ground for Ottoman Turkish people and was named Eyup cemetery.


Some images of Eyup cemetery:


Eyup Cemetery by Russian artist Albert N. Benois.



A modern photo of Eyup cemetery.



Modern photograph of Eyup cemetery in winter.  These are mostly the old graves.


Another modern photo of Eyup cemetery.


Recent photo of Eyup cemetery, often known as the hillside cemetery.


Apology for those “alamy” water marks.
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« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2022, 12:48:56 am »



Mash'Allah, absolutely wonderful.  Thanks for the details brother.  I've seen quite a few medieval paintings of Eyup cemetery, and its history adds to its beauty. 
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« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2022, 12:50:44 am »



Yes, Eyup cemetery is another wonderful looking burial site.  Alhumdulilah.

Thanks for these excellent posts and info, brother ts.
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« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2022, 12:52:13 am »



Very welcome sisters.
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