Crimean War
During the Crimean War (1854-1856), the barracks was allocated to the British Army, which was on the way from Britain to the Crimea. After the troops of the 33rd and 41st left for the front, the barracks was converted into a temporary military hospital.
On November 4, 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived in Scutari with 38 volunteer nurses. They cared for thousands of wounded and infected soldiers until she returned home in 1857 as a heroine.
Around 6,000 soldiers died in the Selimiye Barracks during the war, mostly as the result of cholera epidemic. The dead were buried at a plot next to the barracks, which became later the Haydarpaşa Cemetery.
Today, the northmost tower of the barracks is a museum.
Read more about this topic: Selimiye Barracks
Famous quotes containing the word war:
“The most absurd apology for authority and law is that they serve to diminish crime. Aside from the fact that the State is itself the greatest criminal, breaking every written and natural law, stealing in the form of taxes, killing in the form of war and capital punishment, it has come to an absolute standstill in coping with crime. It has failed utterly to destroy or even minimize the horrible scourge of its own creation.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)