Grave in front of house stirs controversy

BURSA

A grave in front of a building in the northwestern province of Bursa, which is claimed by some to belong to a girl who was in love with a man living in that building, has stirred controversy across the city.

The grave came into the country’s agenda when a social media user uploaded its video, which was watched 9.6 million times in such a short time.

Bypassers even stop and pray in front of the grave. But many locals refute the “love legend,” saying that “no one knows who is inside the grave.”

“I am 55 years old. I was born in this neighborhood. I do not know anything about this love legend,” Rıdvan Uslu, the local head of İnegöl district’s Çeltikli neighborhood, where the grave is located, told Demirören News Agency.

“The house nearby the grave is my grandfather’s, who is 90 years old. I asked him, and he did not know either. We do not know if a woman or a man is inside,” he added.

According to the myth, a girl was in love with a man, but their families did not allow them to be lovers. With the agony she felt, she got cancer. Feeling sorry for her, the man’s family accepted their marriage.

However, the bride died in front of the house while opening the door.
“People believe her grave was built just in front of the house where she took her last breath. The people living in the house left the neighborhood, the house has been renovated, but the grave stayed,” Uslu said.

Hüseyin Koyuncu, a 58-year-old local, is one of those who believe in the “bride” myth in any case. “We have asked all the old locals, but no one could give a specific answer,” he said.

İnegöl municipality officials, talking to Demirören News Agency on the condition of anonymity, alleged that the grave was “at least two centuries-old.”

“But we do not know who is buried there,” they added.

While the number of followers of the video is rising, the local head of the neighborhood made a call to historians to visit the site to do research and put an end to the allegations.