Cemetery

A Turkish cultural association said on Aug. 5 that almost all mosques and graveyards on Greece's Kos (Istankoy) island were "ruined" and closed to worship.

A rodent infestation in cemeteries in the region of Kalamaria in Thessaloniki, has prompted a prosecutor to order a preliminary investigation following complaints filed by the union of funeral homes.

According to the complaint, there has been a large increase in the number of mice, rats and cockroaches seen in the cemeteries, compromising public health. 

Three individuals - two men, aged 56 and 42 and a woman, 55 - were arrested on Monday for stealing copper and bronze objects from graveyards in various areas around Attica, police said, adding that they are looking for other suspects.

Seventy-five years ago today, during the German occupation of Greece, began the destruction of the historic Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.

A 1,400 year-old gallery grave unearthed during archaeological works in the ancient city of Dara in the southeastern province of Mardin has been opened to visitors after necessary measures. 
 

A "cemetery of the nameless" has been established near the coast in the western Turkish province of İzmir for Syrians who died while trying to cross over to Greece. 

The newly founded Doğançay Cemetery hosts dozens of graves bearing numbers rather than names, with an imam praying for the unidentified bodies during their burial. 

In Greek, the words for monument (mnimeio) and tomb (mnima) both come from the word "mnimi," or memory, making cemeteries places where death, life and continuity are celebrated.

Villagers in the Black Sea province of Rize have been on the watch for bears exhuming bodies out of graves, blaming environmental projects that change the balance of nature and affect the habitat of the animals, which subsequently leads to their aggressive manners.

A gallery grave, unearthed during archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Dara in the southeastern Turkish province of Mardin eight years ago, will be opened to visitors. 

Police seeking a toddler missing for 25 years have uncovered several ancient graves during a dig in a field on the Greek island of Kos, where he was last seen, according to reports Thursday.

It is believed that the area may have been an old burial ground.

Police said that the search for Ben Needham will continue despite discovery of the graves which could be 1500 years old.