Karacaahmet Cemetery

Karacaahmet is the largest cemetery in Turkey and one of the oldest continuously used burial grounds in Istanbul, with tombstones dating back 700 years spread across a vast cypress-shaded hillside in Üsküdar. The carved turbans on the older Ottoman graves indicate the profession or religious rank of the deceased — a whole social history encoded in stone.

The cemetery is still active and very much a place of mourning and prayer. Walking here is perfectly acceptable — many Istanbullus come to picnic and rest in the shade — but treat it with the respect due a working cemetery. The oldest section in the west is the most atmospheric, with centuries-old stones leaning at odd angles among the roots of ancient trees.

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A story
Karacaahmet is named after a 14th-century dervish warrior whose tomb stands at its heart. According to legend, he was a companion of Orhan Gazi during the Ottoman conquest of Chrysopolis (the ancient name of Üsküdar) in 1338. The cemetery that grew around his grave eventually became the largest Ottoman burial ground in the world. Wandering it today, you pass turbaned headstones from the 16th century standing beside modern marble graves, the whole history of the Ottoman and Republican city arranged in the shade of old cypress trees.

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