2 Best Sights in The Sea of Marmara and the North Aegean, Turkey

The stunningly situated memorial here bears the names of some 5,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers, buried in unknown graves, who were killed at Gallipoli during the grueling eight-month World War I campaign to defeat the Ottoman forces. Savage hand-to-hand fighting took place on the battlefield where the cemetery was established—thousands were killed on both sides here in four days of fighting—and seven Victoria crosses, the highest award given by the British government for bravery and usually quite sparingly distributed, were awarded after the Battle of Lone Pine. This is the most affecting of all the Anzac cemeteries, and the epitaphs on the tombstones are very moving.

The complex around the Sultan Murat II Camii (built 1425–26) is probably the city's most serene resting place, with 12 tombs tucked amid a leafy park. Among those buried here are Murat (1404–51), the father of Mehmet the Conqueror, and Mustafa (1515–53), the eldest son of Süleyman the Magnificent, who was strangled in his father's tent. Murat's plain tomb was built in accordance with his will, with an open hole in the roof right above the tomb to let the rain in. The most decorated tombs are those of two grandsons of Murat, Çelebi Mehmet and Cem Sultan, which are kept locked most of the time—ask the caretaker to open them for you. The historical complex also included a nearby hammam, medrese (now the Uluumay Museum), and a soup kitchen for the poor (now Darüzziyafe restaurant).