Zincirlikuyu Cemetery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery is a modern burial ground at the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here.
The cemetery is located in the Şişli district between Esentepe and Levent neighborhoods. It is Istanbul’s first cemetery established in a contemporary structure. Planned in 1935, the burial place reached in the 1950s to its boundaries of today. It has an area of 380,847 m², which is completely full, excluding family graves.
A mosque within the cemetery, built and donated by the Turkish entrepreneur İbrahim Bodur, was opened to service on April 2, 2004. Designed by architect Alidost Ertuğrul, the mosque is specially constructed for burial prays, and has a capacity of 500 people.[1]
The office of the İstanbul Cemeteries Administration is located in the building at the entrance of the cemetery.
Over the gate of the cemetery a verse from the Qur'an reminds "Her canlı ölümü tadacaktır" (English: Every creature will taste the death).[2]
[edit] Notable burials
- Sadri Alışık (1925-1995), film actor
- Oğuz Aral (1936-2004), political cartoonist
- Duygu Asena (1946-2006), columnist, best seller author and activist for women’s rights
- Rıfat Ilgaz (1911-1993), poet and story writer
- Erdal İnönü (1926-2007), scientist and statesman
- Abdi İpekçi (1929-1979), journalist and intellectuel
- İsmail Cem İpekçi (1940-2007), politician, journalist and statesman
- Orhan Kemal (1914-1970), novelist
- Vehbi Koç (1991-1996), entrepreneur and Turkey’s richest man
- Sakıp Sabancı (1933-2004), entrepreneur and Turkey’s second richest man
- Ruhi Su (1912-1985), folk music singer
- Kemal Sunal (1944-2000), film actor and comedian
- Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan (1852-1937), poet and playwright
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (Turkish)
- ^ Newpaper Radikal August 10, 2003 (Turkish)
