Abide-i Hürriyet

Abide-i Hürriyet, the Monument of Liberty, is a marble monument and memorial cemetery standing on the rise known as Hürriyet-i Ebediye Tepesi in Şişli. According to the English Wikipedia the hill, at about 130 metres above sea level, is the highest point of Şişli. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam notes that the monument looks out over the Kağıthane valley. It was erected in memory of the soldiers who lost their lives during the 31 March Incident of 1909 and is one of the best known structures of the Second Constitutional period. Sources describe it as Istanbul's first national monument. The monument has also given its name to one of Şişli's main streets, Abide-i Hürriyet Caddesi, which runs parallel to Halaskargazi Caddesi. According to the district history published by Şişli Municipality, the area around this street was built up rapidly after the 1920s, and the luxury apartment blocks of the period rose here in the 1930s. History A design competition was opened for the monument in April 1909 and it was won by the architect Muzaffer Bey, one of the pioneers of the First National Architecture movement. Construction began in 1909, the foundation was laid by Sultan Mehmed V Reşad, and the monument was inaugurated with a ceremony on 23 July 1911. Gold and silver medals bearing the sultan's tughra and the dates were struck for the opening. The soldiers who died in the 31 March Incident were the first to be buried here; the Turkish Wikipedia counts 71 and the English Wikipedia 74, so the number varies between sources. Grand Vizier Mahmud Şevket Paşa, who lost his life in an assassination in 1913, was buried next to the monument in an open tomb designed by the architect Kemaleddin Bey. The remains of Talat Paşa were brought from his grave in Berlin and buried here with a ceremony on 25 February 1943. The bones of Midhat Paşa were moved to the memorial cemetery in 1951, and those of Enver Paşa were brought from Tajikistan in 1996. The graves of other figures of the period, Atıf Kamçıl, Eyüp Sabri Akgöl and Mithat Şükrü Bleda, are also here. The site has thus become not a single monument but a memorial cemetery carrying the memory of the constitutional era. Architecture The monument is built entirely of marble and the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam describes its style as neoclassical. Because it stands on a triangular plot, Muzaffer Bey resolved the whole design with triangular geometry; a six sided base rises on a triangular platform with chamfered corners, and three separate flights of steps lead up to it. Above the base the body of the monument stretches skyward in the shape of a cannon barrel firing into the air. At the foot of the barrel are bronze emblems representing the army and the navy. On the three faces of the base you can read the names of the fallen written inside hexagonal seals, the tughra of Mehmed V Reşad and the dates of restorations. Beneath the base there is a triangular prayer room and burial chamber reached by eighteen steps. This chamber has marble cladding, bronze doors, a small dome and a mihrab. The calligraphy in the chamber was written by Hasan Sabri Efendi. In the park around the monument the paths spread out as a five pointed star inside a circle, and the English Wikipedia links this layout to the star and crescent symbol. Since the park lies between three major roads, the monument is a quiet island of its own despite the traffic around it. Visiting Because the monument stands in the open it can always be seen from outside; since the access arrangements and the hours when the prayer room is open may change, check current information before your visit. First climb the steps to the base and read the inscriptions and hexagonal seals on the three faces. Then look at the open tomb of Mahmud Şevket Paşa and the gravestones around it; each carries the lettering and decoration of a different era. At midday the light from above flattens the marble; morning and late afternoon light bring out the reliefs on the base far better. The height of the hill offers a wide view towards the Kağıthane valley and the tall buildings of Şişli. Getting there The nearest rail stop is the M7 Çağlayan metro station on Abide-i Hürriyet Caddesi; the station lies north of the Istanbul Courthouse, a few hundred metres from the monument. The Şişli-Mecidiyeköy station (M2 and M7) and the Mecidiyeköy Metrobüs stop are about a kilometre to the southeast; from there you can walk along Abide-i Hürriyet Caddesi. It can be combined with the Atatürk Museum in Şişli in the same half day.