Zonguldak’s Three Martyrs Monument: The Moving Story Behind Three Rising Forms

When you first see a monument, you notice its shape. Once you learn what it represents, the same view takes on a different meaning. Zonguldak’s Uzun Mehmet Monument, also known as the Three Martyrs Monument, is such a place.

Its three rising sections represent Uzun Mehmet, miners who lost their lives, and fallen soldiers. Knowing this changes the experience of standing before it. The structure becomes an expression of how a city honours work, loss and remembrance.

Why Three Mehmets?

The “three” in the monument’s name does not refer to three individuals who died together in a particular event. It is a symbolic idea bringing different lives and sacrifices into one place.

Uzun Mehmet represents Zonguldak’s historical connection with hard coal. Miner Mehmet stands for workers who lost their lives underground. Soldier Mehmet represents fallen servicemen, drawing on Mehmetçik, an affectionate Turkish name for the ordinary soldier.

Here, Mehmet becomes a name shared across a wider memory. A worker expected home by his family, a soldier whose return is awaited, a person remembered across generations… The monument’s depth lies in its ability to evoke those lives through a few simple forms.

Different Heights, a Shared Remembrance

According to the account of its architect, Yılmaz Soylu, the monument’s three sections were designed at different heights:

• The 4.5-metre section represents Uzun Mehmet.
• The 9-metre section represents Miner Mehmet.
• The 13-metre section represents fallen soldiers, or Mehmetçik.

With this in mind, your eyes move between the rising forms. Distinct yet belonging to the same composition, they carry the monument’s three meanings together.

Standing here can prompt a quiet question: what does it take to remember a life? A name, a photograph, or a marker people encounter as they go about their day?

This monument gives remembrance a place within everyday life.

Built for the Republic’s 50th Anniversary

The monument was built in 1973 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. It was completed in approximately three months under the supervision of architect Yılmaz Soylu.

Including miners in such an anniversary carries particular significance. Factories, roads and production are part of the Republic’s history, alongside the people whose labour made them possible. In Zonguldak, that story is closely connected with those who worked underground.

Before the monument, the city’s nickname, “Karaelmas”—“Black Diamond”—takes on greater weight. Alongside coal’s economic value, you begin to consider the work and losses involved in extracting it.

Who Was Uzun Mehmet?

Uzun Mehmet is the figure traditionally associated with the discovery of hard coal near Ereğli, and he holds an important place in Zonguldak’s collective memory.

The stories surrounding him have become part of the region’s mining identity. Details of his life and death should be distinguished from firmly established historical evidence.

His role within the monument is clear: he represents the transformation associated with coal and the human story behind it.

Where Is the Monument?

The Three Martyrs Monument stands on the Balkaya ridge near İncivez, beside the Zonguldak–Kozlu road. It is approximately 2 kilometres from the city centre.

Its position was chosen so that it could be seen from different parts of the city as it existed at the time. Remembrance would therefore extend beyond visitors standing directly before it; the monument would also become part of the wider urban landscape.

The surroundings were landscaped with walking and recreation areas in 1983. Check current access arrangements before visiting, as use of the area may change.

Learn Its Story Before Taking a Photograph

A photograph here can hold more than the outline of a structure. Once you understand what the three sections represent, you look at the monument with a different kind of attention.

Allow a few minutes for it during your Zonguldak visit. First, take in the whole composition. Then consider the people it commemorates.

Perhaps those three rising forms will leave you with one lasting thought: a city’s history also carries the memory of those who never came home.