Hülya Taş

Keywords: Balkan, immigrant, tombstone, Bursa

Abstract

Bursa, Turkey's fourth largest city, is an important civic center with natural beauty and historical heritage in Marmara Region. Bursa has been exposed to a dense immigration especially from the Balkans since 1783, which is peaked in 1923 with the proclamation of theRepublic of Turkey. Tombstones are indicators of a country's culture. Writings on a tombstone express not only the grieving; but also history, language, literature and art of the location. In this work, the current situation of the writings and motifs on the Balkan immigrants' tombstones in Mudanya, Hürriyet, Görükle boneyards in the first place, then those in Ahmet Paşa, Hamitler, Pınarbaşı, Fethiye, Çekirge boneyards will be examined.