Chunuk Bair
Chunuk Bair marks the highest point Allied forces reached during the Gallipoli campaign, and for New Zealanders in particular it's one of the most significant sites on the peninsula: New Zealand troops briefly captured and held this ridge in August 1915, in one of the campaign's few genuine tactical successes, before being driven back. The hilltop today holds a New Zealand memorial and cemetery alongside a large Turkish memorial and statue of Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk), who commanded Ottoman forces defending this exact high ground — a juxtaposition that makes the site historically layered in a way few Gallipoli locations are. The views from the ridge stretch out over the peninsula and toward the Dardanelles, giving a clear sense of why control of this elevation mattered so much strategically. It's typically visited as part of a broader battlefield tour alongside Lone Pine and Anzac Cove, and standing on the ridge itself does more to convey the campaign's brutal terrain than any museum display could.
Chunuk Bair FAQs
In August 1915, New Zealand infantry briefly captured this ridge, the highest point reached by Allied forces during the campaign, before Ottoman forces under Mustafa Kemal recaptured it in a fierce counterattack days later.
Mustafa Kemal, later known as Atatürk, personally commanded the Ottoman defense of this ridge, and the site is significant in Turkish national history as well as in New Zealand's, hence the memorial to him alongside the New Zealand monument.
It's a separate ceremony site from the main Anzac Cove dawn service, but it's part of the same cluster of memorial ceremonies held on and around Anzac Day at Gallipoli.
No, it's a free, open memorial site.
It's possible with a rental car via Eceabat, but the roads and site layout are much easier to navigate with a local guide who can also provide historical context.
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