The four pillars
A 41.7-metre monument visible from the Asian shore and the ferry, finished by a public subscription drive led by the newspaper Milliyet after the works stalled.
Onder Kokturk — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alfinkedisi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tutku Çetinel — CC BY 3.0 · Gürsoy Tokgöz — CC BY 3.0
Four concrete pillars, 41.7 metres tall, carry a square slab like a giant's table on Eskihisarlık point at the very end of the Gallipoli peninsula, where the Dardanelles empty into the Aegean. You will see it from the Asian shore and from the ferry deck long before you stand under it, and that is the point: it was built for the roughly quarter of a million Ottoman soldiers killed, wounded or missing here in 1915, and to be seen from the sea that the British and French fleets tried and failed to force. The story of its construction is part of its meaning. The foundation stone was laid in 1954, the works stalled for years, and a nationwide subscription drive launched by the newspaper Milliyet in 1958 raised many times its target and finished the job; it opened on 21 August 1960. Around it lie a symbolic cemetery with the names of 59,408 identified dead, a 45-metre relief wall that tells the campaign in order, the grave of an unknown soldier, and a real cemetery laid out in 1992 for the remains of six hundred men. Beneath the base is a small museum of things picked up from the battlefield, buttons, belt buckles, sniper shields, photographs; small indeed, but it brings the story down to human scale after all that concrete. It is open-air, free, open around the clock and needs no booking. From Çanakkale town, take the ferry to Eceabat (about half an hour) or the shorter crossing to Kilitbahir, then drive some 27 km south along a quiet coastal road, roughly 45 minutes. Drivers roll their car onto the same ferry; everyone else will find that nearly every Gallipoli day tour ends here. Paths are paved and easy with a pushchair or for older relatives, with only a few steps up to the platform. Be honest with yourself about scale: the monument itself takes half an hour, and there is nothing else here beyond the view and a café. Its value is context, so do not come for it alone. Make it the last stop of a day covering the whole southern sector, including the Allied cemeteries at Seddülbahir. In August the site is fully exposed to sun and wind with barely any shade, so come early or towards sunset. On 18 March, the anniversary of the naval victory, the main state ceremony is held here and access is restricted: avoid it if you want quiet, or come precisely for the spectacle.
A 41.7-metre monument visible from the Asian shore and the ferry, finished by a public subscription drive led by the newspaper Milliyet after the works stalled.
59,408 names and a 45-metre carved strip telling the campaign chapter by chapter; this is what gives the visit its substance.
Buttons, buckles and photographs lifted from the battlefield; fifteen minutes that bring the story down to human scale.
Eskihisarlık Point, Morto Bay, Seddülbahir, Gallipoli Peninsula
With only half a day, stick to the northern sector: the monument itself takes half an hour and the round trip adds an hour and a half. With a full day, yes, because it completes the southern sector (Seddülbahir, the Allied cemeteries, the landing beach), and the view over the mouth of the strait is the finest on the peninsula.
Yes; the paths are paved and level, a pushchair rolls easily and there are only a few steps. The one problem is summer sun and wind, with almost no shade, so bring water and hats and avoid midday in July and August.