Grand Vizier Siyavuş Pasha (from Kanjiza) was educated at the palace school, Enderun, and during the reign of Sultan Murat III, served as grand vizier three times for a total of 5 years and 4 months. He married Fatma Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Selim II and Nurbanu Sultan. He had some charitable constructions like mosques, madrasas, Turkish baths, and fountains built in his and Fatma Sultan’s name in Istanbul (Edirnekapı and Eyüp) and in rural areas. When Pasha died in 1602, he was buried in his tomb.
The tomb was constructed for Grand Vizier Siyavuş Pasha by Architect Sinan. There is no construction inscription on the tomb. It is thought that the tomb was constructed between 1582 and 1584. There is a poetic inscription about the death of Siyavuş Pasha in the tympanum of the street-facing window. The outside of the tomb was constructed with fine stone, planned as a hexadecagon; it was converted to an octagon inside and covered with a dome. The fronts were enclosed with moldings, and one window was constructed both above and below in an alternating pattern. The tomb has only one domed portico, and its entrance opens to the north front. Inside the building, on the surface of the pendentives, “Allah,” “Muhammad,” “The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali),” “Hasan,” and “Husayn” are written in white calligraphy on a navy blue background on the tile medallions, which are surrounded by hand-drawn rumi patterns.
There are a total of 11 graves, 2 of them hardwood sarcophagi, and 9 of them marble sarcophagi, in the tomb. The large hardwood sarcophagus belongs to Siyavuş Pasha. Siyavuş Pasha’s wife, Fatma Sultan, his sons Sinan Bey, Ahmed Bey, Abdülkadir Bey, Süleyman Bey, İbrahim Bey, and Pasha’s other sons and daughters are also buried in the tomb.