Hasan Hüsnü Paşa Tomb
About the Person:
- Hasan Hüsnü Paşa, son of Patrona Hüseyin Paşa of Bozcaada, was a prominent figure in Ottoman naval history.
- He entered the Naval Academy in 1842 and graduated in 1849. During the Russo-Ottoman War, he commanded the Black Sea fleet.
- On January 12, 1881, he was appointed Minister of the Navy (Bahriye Nazırı), a position he held for a total of 23 years.
- He gained the trust of Sultan Abdülhamid II and worked extensively for the modernization of the navy.
- A patron of knowledge and culture, he also commissioned libraries, mosques, and schools. He passed away on July 27, 1903, at his waterfront mansion in Ortaköy.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 1903
Ordered by: His family
Architect: Unknown
Prominent Features:
- The façade is entirely clad in white marble and reflects a transitional Ottoman-Rococo style.
- On either side of the main entrance are tall arched windows with cast iron grilles, produced at the Tophane-i Amire foundry.
- Upon entering, a corridor leads to the right where a domed room holds Hasan Hüsnü Paşa’s wooden sarcophagus and, behind it, the marble sarcophagus of his son, Admiral Mehmed Rüşdü Bozcalı.
- In the domed tomb chamber to the left are the sarcophagi of the Paşa’s wife, children, and grandchildren.
- Behind the tomb lie a library and a türbedar (caretaker) room; to the left is a small mosque. Rituals of the Sadiyya order were also held in the tomb.
- Mosques, fountains, and libraries bearing Hasan Hüsnü Paşa’s name can be found in various districts of Istanbul (e.g., Kaptan Paşa Mosque near Eyüp Ferry Pier, mosque and school in the Hasanpaşa neighborhood of Kadıköy).
- The tomb was faithfully restored in 1999.
