Ari Burnu Cemetery

Ari Burnu Cemetery in Gallipoli, Turkey, was originally established in 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. It houses the graves of 252 Commonwealth soldiers who died during the eight month attempt to remove Turkey from the war, including 42 unidentified graves. Ari Burnu Cemetery also has several memorials to those believed to be buried there but who have not been identified.

History of Ari Burnu Cemetery

Ari Burni Cemetery, which gets its name from the Cape at the North end of the Anzac Cove, was created in 1915. Interestingly, it was established during the campaign by the Allied troops to lay their fallen soldiers to rest, in spite of the fact that the area itself was under fire from Turkish outposts.

The cemetery primarily houses Australian soldiers, among whom are the men of the 8th and 10th Light Horse Regiments who were killed in the ill-fated charge at the Nek on 7th August 1915. There are also graves dedicated to those who gave their lives in a non-soldier capacity.

In 1926 and 1927, graves from the Kilid Bahr Anglo-French Cemetery, which was from the eastern side of the Gallipoli Peninsula, and the Gallipoli Consular Cemetery, which was from the north, were added to the cemetery.

The first boat loads of Australians landed around Ari Burnu on 25th April 1915 and the official Dawn Service was held there for many years, but due to overcrowding the Anzac Commemorative Site was built at North Beach, which is on the other side of the headland.

The last Dawn Service held at the Ari Burni Cemetery was on the 25th April 1999.

Ari Burnu Cemetery Today

The cemetery is permanently open and can be visited at any time. Wheelchair access to the cemetery is possible via the main entrance.

Visitors are advised to note that there isn’t a cemetery register, so should locate the Grave/Memorial reference before visiting by finding it on their website.

Getting to Ari Burnu Cemetery

From the centre of the Gallipoli Peninsula, the cemetery is reachable in around 45 minutes by car via the Edirne Çanakkale Yolu/D550/E87 roads. For any particularly hardy traveller, the site is reachable in around 7 hours by foot from the centre of the Peninsula, and will take you along the coastline of the Dardanelles Strait.

The Anzac and Suvla cemeteries are first signposted from the left hand junction of the Eceabat – Bigali road. From this junction you should travel into the main Anzac area. Ari Burnu Cemetery lies between the beach and the cliff under Plugge’s Plateau, about 1000 metres north-north-west of Lone Pine.