Karacaahmet Cemetery

Karacaahmet Cemetery in Uesuedar on Istanbul's Asian side is the oldest and, at 750,000 square metres, the largest cemetery in Turkey. Its founding dates to the 14th century, shortly after Ottoman conquest of the region and well before the fall of Constantinople itself. It is named for Karaca Ahmet, a saint and companion of Sultan Orhan whose tuerbe – a small shrine – still stands on the grounds and is visited today. Estimates put the number of graves at over a million. The cemetery is a dense cypress forest crossed by narrow paths; in Islam the cypress symbolises eternity and rises over Ottoman headstones from six centuries: turban- or fez-topped stelae for men, flower-carved ones for women. Leave the busy Uesuedar waterfront, step through the gate and you enter another city – silent, shaded, almost rural.