Pangaltı Roman Catholic Cemetery ( tr, Pangaltı Fransız Latin Katolik Mezarlığı), also known as ''Feriköy Latin Catholic Cemetery'', is a historic

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is the largest

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cemetery in Istanbul. The cemetery is at

Feriköy Feriköy is a neighbourhood of Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey. It is home to two large adjoining cemeteries, one for Roman Catholic burials, the other for Protestant ones. It adjoins fashionable Bomonti, with its towering hotel blocks. See also * ...

neighborhood in Şişli district of Istanbul, nearly north of

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

. The main

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

burial ground of the city;

Feriköy Protestant Cemetery, Istanbul Feriköy is a neighbourhood of Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey. It is home to two large adjoining cemeteries, one for Roman Catholic burials, the other for Protestant ones. It adjoins fashionable Bomonti, with its towering hotel blocks. See also * ...

lies just across the Catholic cemetery. Two neighboring cemeteries are divided by a road;

Abide-i Hürriyet The Monument of Liberty ( tr, Hürriyet Anıtı; ota, script=latn, Abide-i Hürriyet), in the Şişli-Mecidiyeköy district of Istanbul, Turkey, is a memorial in honour of the soldiers killed defending the Ottoman Parliament against rebel forces d ...

avenue.

History and description

The origins of the cemetery date back to 1853, when the Ottoman government declared that the graveyard of the Franks at Pera was no longer suitable as a burial ground. A new site was granted near the Imperial War Academy in Pangaltı as a cemetery for Istanbul's Protestant and Catholic communities. This initiative aimed at clearing ground for urban development in the Taksim area. Four years later, the allotted space was deemed insufficient for the dead of both communities, and a second grant - issued by order of Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1857. Between 1840 and 1910, the area of Istanbul stretching northward from Taksim to Şişli was transformed from open countryside to densely inhabited residential settlement. Early 19th century maps of Istanbul show much of the area in this direction taken up by the non-Muslim

burial ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

s of the Grand Champs des Morts, with the Frankish section directly in the path of the main route of expansion, including the widening of the main road running from Taksim to Pangaltı. Due to this reason, the human remains were exhumed from the old Frankish burial ground in the ''Grand Champs des Morts'' and they were transferred, along with their grave markers, to its current location in 1863-1864 in Feriköy - created by order of Sultan Abdülmecid I in the 1850s - for re-interment. The burial ground is separated by six squares and alleys with names of saints, extending from east to west. The ornate

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

s of the great

Levantine Levantine may refer to: * Anything pertaining to the Levant, the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, including any person from the Levant ** Syria (region), corresponding to the modern countries of the Lev ...

families are located in the west (Corpi, Botter, Tubini, Glavany). Several monuments have been erected in honour of the French and Italian soldiers died during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

(1853-1856). The ossuary is made from reclaimed gravestones in old cemeteries of the Petits-Champs and Grand Champs at

Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district of ...

in the 1850s. The cemetery is used by various Catholic communities. The tombstones of the Levantines are the most numerous, but there are also monuments of Greek Catholics,

Armenian Catholics , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

, Chaldean and

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...

communities. There are other Catholic cemeteries in Istanbul, especially in the city districts of

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

, Prinkipos and .

Gallery

File:Pangaltıcemeterylady.jpg, Pangaltı Latin Catholic Cemetery File:PangaltıOttomanArmenian.jpg, Ottoman-Armenian family with deceased male wearing a

fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

File:PangaltıCatholictomb.jpg, The cemetery during a

snow storm A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...

in 2005 File:Pangaltıstonemausoleum.jpg, Old family

File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2950.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery general view File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2964.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Chapel File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2963.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Detail of doors File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2959.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Family grave File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2939.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Italian military graves File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2937.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Pyramid in view File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2940.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Pyramidal ossuary File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2941.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Notice ad pyramid File:Pangalti Catholic cemetery 2956.jpg, Pangalti Catholic cemetery Old gravestone File:Catgravestone.jpg, Pangaltı Catholic cemetery Cat grave

References

External links

Postcard view of the Latin Catholic cemetery of Feriköy

80 pictures of the graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pangalti Catholic Cemetery, Istanbul Cemeteries in Istanbul Italian Levantines Şişli Roman Catholic cemeteries Catholic Church in Turkey Catholicism in Turkey Christianity in Istanbul