TOMB and MONUMENT of BARBAROS HAYRETTİN PASHA

Born in 1466, Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha was proclaimed Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Navy by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1534. He died in 1546, and his will written at his own request on 21 September 1534, requested that he be buried in the tomb he had built next to a medrese (religious school) in Beşiktaş, and a lamp kept burning over his grave. The tomb was built by thee architect Sinan in keeping with 16th century classical Ottoman architecture. It was constructed of ashlar masonry on an octagonal base plan, and covered with a dome. Each of the seven façades have a pair of vertically arranged windows, totaling 14 in all, and the eight façade has a portico consisting of a peaked arch supported by two columns and covered over with cross vaults. The zones above the windows and the dome are painted with decorative designs. Interred in the tomb are also Admiral-in-Chief Cafer Pasha, and the son and wife of Barbaros Hayrettin.

The tomb is open for visit only on April 4 and July 1, during the commemoration of the Naval Martyrs' and National Cabotage Days, respectively.

The bronze sculptures for Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha's monument were designed and cast in 1942 by sculptors Zühtü MÜRİDOĞLU and Ali Hadi BARA.