Yahya Kemal Cad 42, European side of Istanbul Map
Constructeed: 1451- 52 by Sultan Mehmed II
Tel. (0212) 263 53 05
Bus: 40, 41
Open: 9am- 5pm Thu- Tue
Rumelihisarı (also known as Rumelia Castle and Roumeli Hissar
Castle) or Boğazkesen Castle (meaning "Narrow Castle" or literally
"Gorge Cutter Castle") is a medieval fortress located in Istanbul,
Turkey, on a series of hills in the European shore of the Bosphorus.
The fortress also lends its name to the immediate neighborhood
around it in the city's Sarıyer district.
Conceived and built
between 1451 and 1452 by order of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, the
complex was commissioned in preparation for a planned Ottoman siege
on the then Byzantine city of Constantinople, with the aim of
cutting off the maritime, military and logistical relief that could
potentially come. to the aid of the Byzantines across the Bosphorus
Strait, hence the alternative name of the fortress, "Boğazkesen",
i.e. "narrow castle". Its older sister structure, Anadoluhisarı
("Anatolian Fortress"), lies on opposite banks of the Bosphorus, and
the two fortresses worked together during the final siege to speed
up all naval traffic along the Bosphorus, thus helping the Ottomans
to achieve their goal of making the city of Constantinople (later
renamed Istanbul) their new imperial capital in 1453.
After
the Ottoman conquest of the city, Rumelihisarı served as a customs
checkpoint and occasional prison, especially for embassies of states
that were at war with the empire. After suffering extensive damage
in the Great Earthquake of 1509, the structure was repaired and used
continuously until the end of the 19th century.
Today, the
fortress is a popular museum open to the public and also acts as an
open-air venue for seasonal concerts, art festivals and special
events.
The need for a strategic fortress on the Bosphorus was well known
to the Ottomans, who had begun in the late 14th century to harbor
intentions of capturing the city of Constantinople as a new capital
for their then nascent empire. In a previous Ottoman attempt to
conquer the city, Sultan Murad II had encountered difficulties due
to the blockade of the Bosphorus by the Byzantine fleet. Having
learned the importance of maritime strategy from this previous
attempt, Sultan Mehmed II, son of Murad II, began planning a new
offensive immediately after his accession to the throne in 1451.
In response to the coronation of the ambitious young sultan, the
Byzantine emperor Constantine city, while avoiding the long decline
of the Byzantines.
Mehmed II rejected the offer of peace
offered and proceeded with his siege plans by commissioning the
construction of a large fortress that would be used to control all
maritime traffic along the Bosphorus, and would work alongside the
ancient Anadoluhisarı (Anatolian fortress) in The strait. to prevent
any possible maritime aid from reaching Constantinople during the
final Ottoman siege of the city in 1453, particularly from the
Genoese colonies along the Black Sea, such as Caffa, Sinope and
Amasra.
The site for the new fortress was quickly decided as
the narrowest point of the Bosphorus, where the strait is just 660
meters (2,170 ft) wide. This high hilltop site on the European banks
of the strait not only facilitated control of the waterway, but also
had the advantage of being situated directly across Anadoluhisarı on
the Asian banks of the Bosphorus; a larger Ottoman fortress built
between 1393 and 1394 by Sultan Bayezid I. Historically, there had
been a Roman fortification on the top of the hill where Rumelihisarı
was to be built, which had then been used as a prison by the
Byzantines and Genoese. Later a monastery was built there.
Construction began on April 15, 1452. Before construction, Mehmed II
laid the first brick and superstitiously signed his initials and
those of the Prophet Muhammad on it with goat's blood. Each of the
three main towers was named after the royal vizier who supervised
its respective construction; Çandarlı Halil Pasha, who built the
great tower next to the gate; Zağanos Pasha, who built the south
tower; and Sarıca Pasha, who built the north tower. The sultan
himself personally inspected the activities at the site.
The Rumelihisarı fortification has one small tower, three main
towers, and thirteen small watchtowers placed on the walls connecting
the main towers. One watchtower is in the shape of a quadrangular prism,
six watchtowers are shaped like prisms with multiple corners and another
six are cylindrical.
The main tower in the north, Sarıca Pasha
Tower, is cylindrical in shape, with a diameter of 23.30 m (76.4 ft),
walls 7 m (23 ft) thick and a total of 9 floors reaching a height of 28
m. (92 feet). Today, this tower is also known as Fatih ("Conqueror")
Tower after the cognomen of Sultan Mehmed II. The large tower on the
waterfront in the middle of the fortress, Halil Pasha Tower, is a
dodecagon prism and also has 9 floors. It is 22 m (72 ft) high with
23.30 m (76.4 ft) in diameter and walls measuring 6.50 m (21.3 ft)
thick. The main tower in the south, Zağanos Pasha Tower, has only 8
floors. This cylindrical tower is 21 m (69 ft) high and 26.70 m (87.6
ft) in diameter with walls 5.70 m (18.7 ft) thick. The interior space of
each tower was divided with wooden floors, each equipped with an oven.
Conical wooden roofs covered in lead originally crowned the towers,
although they are no longer preserved today.
The fortress's outer
curtain walls are 250 m (820 ft) long from north to south, and vary
between 50 and 125 m (164 and 410 ft) long from east to west. The total
area of the complex is 31,250 m 2 (336,372 sq ft).
The fortress
had three main gates next to the main towers, a side gate and two secret
doors for the arsenal and food cellars next to the south tower. There
were wooden houses for the soldiers and a small mosque, endowed by the
sultan at the time of construction. Only the minaret shaft of the
original mosque remains, while the small mosque added in the mid-16th
century has not survived. Water was supplied to the fortress from a
large cistern beneath the mosque and was distributed through three wall
fountains, only one of which remains. Two inscription plaques are
attached to the walls.
The fortress was initially called
“Boğazkesen”, which literally means “strait cutter”, in reference to the
Bosphorus Strait. The name has a secondary and more macabre meaning;
since boğaz not only means narrow but also "throat" in Turkish.
It was later renamed Rumelihisarı, meaning "fortress of Rumelia",
meaning Byzantine Europe or the Balkan Peninsula.
Rumeli Fortress is used as a museum today. There is no open display
in the fortress, there is no exhibition hall. Artifacts consisting of
cannons, cannonballs and a piece of the chain said to close the Golden
Horn are exhibited in the garden.
In addition to its museum
status, the Citadel was also used as an event area for theater and
concerts until the end of the 2000s. During the restoration works in the
1950s, an open-air theater was built in the area where Boğazkesen Masjid
(also known as Ebu'l-Feth Mosque) was located, which was destroyed in
the 18th century and only a section of its minaret remained. This area,
which originally had simple viewing terraces and a stage, was later
turned into an amphitheater upon the request of theater artist Muhsin
Ertuğrul. With the Rumeli Fortress Concerts that started in 1989, the
amphitheater became one of the most popular summer entertainment venues
of Istanbul's cultural and entertainment life. Rumeli Fortress Concerts
were stopped in 2006 and were held for the last time in 2008.
The
Council of State in 2015; The Istanbul Administrative Court ruled that
the effects that would arise as a result of the activities (concerts and
theater plays) to be carried out in the platform and theater area
located in the historical Boğazkesen Masjid in Rumeli Fortress could
damage the cistern, and this would cause negativities in terms of the
historical and cultural structure. It approved the decision of the
Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Regional Board, which
annulled the decision numbered 3765 dated June 30, 2009.
The
construction of Boğazkesen Fetih Masjid, built on the area used as an
open-air theater and concert venue, was completed in 2015.
There
are many restaurants around Hisar.
Restoration works were started
by IBB Miras in 2022.