Visitors flocking to grand vizier’s grave

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

After his death on the screen, Visitors pray for Pargalı İbrahim Paşa at his grave even though it does not have a sigboard that it belongs to him.

People have gathered at the grave of Pargalı Ibrahim Paşa, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, in Istanbul’s Fındıklı district after he was killed in the TV drama “Muhteşem Yüzyıl” (Magnificent Century), according to daily Hürriyet. The Turkish drama is enormously popular in Turkey and around the world, with the last episode of the drama breaking viewing records with exceptional ratings.

In the last episode this week, Suleyman the Magnificent ordered the execution of his childhood friend, Pargalı İbrahim Paşa. He was strangled following an iftar dinner he took with the sultan. After the episode aired, many people who watched the scene visited his grave to pray for him. According to historical documents, the body of Pargalı İbrahim was buried in the Galata Canfeda Zaviye, a small Islamic monastery in Istanbul. The grave’s location is in present-day Fındıklı, however the grave, which has seen a recent influx of visitors, does not have a signboard noting that it belongs to İbrahim Paşa. Those living in the district say followers of the drama often come to the grave and pray there. They also say the grave has been taken under protection and the nearly collapsed walls restored.