Historical Background: Feriköy Protestant Cemetery
The Feriköy Protestant Cemetery opened in 1859 to replace an earlier burial ground near today’s Taksim Square which had served Istanbul’s foreign Protestant community since the late sixteenth century. From its founding, the cemetery has been managed by the diplomatic representatives of several nations, including the United States of America, and its US section contains the largest number of American citizens buried and memorialized at any one spot in Türkiye. Besides being an active burial ground, the cemetery is a significant international heritage site, with a major American component.
Reinstallation of a Historical Display in the Visitors’ Lodge
The Visitors’ Lodge currently houses a portable display composed of panels that describe the history of the site. It was created shortly after the lodge was built, under the direction of the Amerikan Bord Heyeti, but has deteriorated over time. Revamping and remounting it in the lodge will provide a continual, high-quality public exhibit of the cemetery’s history. The new display system, a rust-resistant aluminum “spider” stand with graphics on a printed polyester fabric cover, can be broken down when the space is needed for funeral receptions and can also be used for other, temporary exhibits. An updated reprint of a leaflet (A3 folded) that accompanied the original display, which encapsulates the information on the panels and was the first purely promotional piece of literature ever created for the cemetery, will also be produced. Since the display and flyer, as well as the lodge itself, exist because of American effort and financing, US funding for the reinstallation of the exhibit in this space is appropriate and meaningful.
Restoration of the Ossuary
The cemetery’s ossuary, which serves the practical purpose of housing the remains of those once buried in temporary graves, needs to be renovated. The exterior components are dilapidated, and the interior space also needs refurbishment. As the single spot in the cemetery that contains the most human remains, the ossuary deserves repair and enhancement, both for aesthetic and for practical reasons. US funding for restoring this notable and highly visible structure will exemplify the longstanding American commitment to caring for and improving all areas of the cemetery, not simply the US section, such as with the construction of the Visitors’ Lodge, a building that is shared by all. The restoration project will be directed by a local renovation expert and will include the replacement of the ossuary’s marble curbs, its damaged cross, a lost iron door, and missing lead lettering, as well as some landscape gardening.
