THE TOMB OF BARBAROSSA

Hayreddin Barbarossa, or Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha (Barbaros Hayreddin (Hayrettin) Paşa or Hızır Hayreddin (Hayrettin) Paşa; also Hızır Reis before being promoted to the rank of Pasha and becoming the Kapudan Pasha, born Khizr or Khidr,Hızır; c. 1478 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman admiral of the fleet who was born in the Ottoman island of Midilli (Lesbos) and died in Constantinople (Istanbul), the Ottoman capital. Barbarossa's naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid 16th century, from the Battle of Preveza in 1538 until the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

The tomb, in Beşiktaş, was built by Sinan the Architect in between 1541 and 1542. There are four sarcophaguses in the tomb. Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha wanted a candle to be lighted on his tomb every night and he bequeathed a certain sum of money for this purpose. The monument, erected beside the tomb in 1944, resembles the bow of the ship at 11.5 m in height. This monument is the work of the Artists Zühtü Baranoğlu and Hadi Baran. The group of statue cost 52.000 liras and Yusuf Akpınar and Ali Haydar Seymen used 6900 kg bronze material for the statues. There is a depiction of Barbaros’ introduction to Süleyman the Magnificent on the left side and the Naval Battle of Preveza on the right side of the limestone base. There are the lines from the poem Süleymaniye’de Bayram Sabahı by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı on the backside of the base. H. Prost, an urban design expert, arranged all the works on a square design and the arrangements of the monument in the square.