Monumental Tomb of Kaptan-ı Derya Saruca Paşa (?–1454)

The monumental tomb stands just below the French cemetery in Gallipoli (Gelibolu), on the slope overlooking Hamza Bey Bay. It is an attractive, well-kept hexagonal building. Saruca Paşa served as Kaptan-ı Derya (Grand Admiral) in Gallipoli during the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid. In 1391 he had the Gallipoli Shipyard built. He had Gallipoli Castle repaired, the harbour cleared, and two-storey towers built at the entrance to the outer harbour, and he closed off the harbour mouth with a three-layered chain. Shipbuilding at the shipyard began in his time, and çektiri-type war galleys were built here for the first time. He took part in many Ottoman campaigns and, although he fell out of favour for a time, he became Commander of Gallipoli Castle again under Murad II (in 1424). Saruca Paşa, one of the viziers of the Murad II era, also had a medrese (theological school) built while he was in Gallipoli, as well as a mosque and an imaret (soup kitchen). The mosque has been destroyed, but his tomb still stands. His endowment included 906 shops next to the caravanserai, a shop in front of the castle, a hamam (bathhouse), and the first library here, founded with a small collection of 18 volumes. He is thought to have died in 1454.