The cemetery is said originally to have been formed with the graves of the Ottoman soldiers, who fell in the battle during the Second Ottoman Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453, where the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI established his command and the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II made his triumphal entry into the conquered city. There is however no historical or archaeological evidence for this, the oldest known graves date from ca. 1600 AD. The cemetery is situated outside Edirnekapı (literally: Edirne Gate), historically the Gate of Charisius of the city walls, on top of the sixth hill of the old city.