istanbul

Hasköy Jewish cemetery is a higgledy piggledy site on top of a hill. The gravestones are horizontal as in the Sephardic tradition. The views are great even if it is all somewhat melancholy. But then İstanbul, as you may have already discovered, has a very pervasive melancholy side.

Abraham Kamondo Mausoleum: Abraham Kamondo was a banker, a
leader of the Jewish community in Istanbul in the 19th century and also
one of the founders of the municipality. His mausoleum will restored to its
past glory and to highlight the cohtribution of the Jewish community in the
cultural life of Istanbul.

Dying at Paris at the age of eighty-eight, Camondo, according to his last wishes, was buried in his family vault in the Jewish cemetery at Hasköy, İstanbul. The Ottoman government held memorial services in his honor.

http://www.onderkaya.net/arsiv/2007/03/19

To view the Kamondo Mausoleum you must take a ride on the Birinci Çevreyolu, the expressway which skirts the central area of the city to the north of Hasköy. Tragically, the path of the expressway passes directly through the midst of the large Hasköy Jewish Cemetery.

A birdseye view of the Jewish cemetery of Haskoy (Istanbul), 1583 onwards.
Picture taken by Minna Rozen, August 1995.

A typical view at Haskoy Jewish cemetery; Tonbstones from the mid 17th century and 2nd half of the 18th century.
Pictures taken by Laurence Salzman, August 1987.

Burial caves of the Jewish cemetery of Haskoy in Istanbul, mid 17th century.
Picture taken by Mehmet Ali Cida , August1988.

The Kamondo mausoleum is set prominently on a hill just to the north of the roadway, a short distance northeast of the Golden Horn, especially when travelling westbound.

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/special/jewish/JewishHaskoy.html

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Tags:Cemetery, Golden Horn, gravestones, istanbul, Jewish, jewish cemetery, jewish community, Kamondo, kamondo family, mausoleum, ottoman government, sephardic tradition