I was thinking of taking the ferry cruise and get
to Sariyer (then what?) and then the thought of this district in the European
part of the city reminded me of the castle that I always see whenever I take a
ferry cruise.
So instead, I packed my camera and walked my way to
Taksim Square bus station, jumped on one of the big buses heading to Sariyer to
get to the castle or fortress.
Rumelihisari or Rumeli Fortress is a bit
out-of-the-beaten path, most tourists who come to the city with limited time are
usually confined to the sights within Sultanahmet district where most of the
popular sights that can be read over the internet and were suggested by many
visitors are within walking distance from each other. Few would venture to see this massive
fortress up close as it can also be seen on a bosphorous ferry cruise. But if one has a lot of time in Istanbul,
this is quite a good place to visit.
There are two majestic fortresses along the river
that separates the city’s location into two continents – Europe and Asia - the Rumelihisari
and Anadoluhisari, both built on the narrowest point of the mighty bosphorous opposite
each other. Anadoluhisari was
built on the Anatolia side in 1393 by the Ottoman sultan Beyazid I, Rumelihisari
on the other hand was built in 1451 by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II in order to
control the sea traffic on the Bosphorus strait and prevent aid from the Black
Sea region to reach Constantinople during the siege of the city in 1453, and to
eventually seize Istanbul (Constantinople) from the Byzantine empire.
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| Cannons near the entrance. |
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| Interior of one of the big towers just beside the main entrance. |
I took the bus from Taksim Square, I was looking
for the bus no. 25T, I got the information from one site, but in reality all
buses that goes to Sariyer or Istinye and buses emanating from both Taksim and
Besiktas that has a Rumelihisari signs go there. I got off one station before the gate
entrance as I wanted to take a walk along the nice promenade beside the river
overlooking the massive Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge and some beautiful mansions
on the other side of the river bank.
It’s a beautiful sunny day.
Designed by Architect Muslihuddin Aga, the fortress
has three main towers and thirteen small watchtowers, all erected along the
walls connecting to the main towers. Sultan Mehmed II supervised the
construction and rushed to finished it in four months and a half during the end
of August 1452.
The fortress has 5 main entrances and the walls are
5 – 15 meters high and covers an area of 30,000 sqm. Upon entering the main entrance, you will see
the line of cannons near the main entrance.
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| Two of the big towers. |
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| The descend to one of the watchtowers. |
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| Going up, no railing to hold on to. |
I walked up the stairs leading to the towers, no
railings to hold on to, not recommended for older tourists if I may say so, so
care must be taken while ascending to the top levels, some of the steps are glossy
and slippery and a not-so-good pair of footwear may slip. Reaching the top is fulfilling though as it
commands a nice view of the bosphorous with the towers on the foreground.
There is an amphitheater with the minaret down the
center, the solitary remnant of an old mosque built on order from the sultan. The best view of the surrounding area and the
bosphorous can be seen on one of the ascend at the back of the amphitheater on
the direction of the Fatih bridge.
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| The minaret sharft on the left, remnant of a mosque. |
I have watched Faruk Aksoy’s epic-action film “Fetih
1453” (purportedly the most expensive production in Turkish film history)
some months back and I would suggest you do too if you plan to visit the
fortress, just to have another perspective of history – from the Ottoman’s view
– or perhaps that’s the (only) popular perspective.
One of the highlights of the story was about
the construction of this fortress and how the Ottomans captured Constantinople
(the name of Istanbul during that time) from the Byzantines which all started
from the strategic construction of this fortress.
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| Standing at one of the watchtowers. |
It's an excellent film, it has all the quality of a hollywood production, I didn't say that it was a good point, I am not really fond watching hollywood movies. But in my opinion it's quite entertaining for its historical narrations and its production's technical aspects, and I think the film has further instigated my interest
in seeing the fortress physically, in addition of course to my fascination in
anything historical.
The roads to the fortress are laterally along the
bosphorus, the sights are nice along the way. Get off at Rumelihisari Duragi
(bu stop) which is right after the cemetery on the hillside and before the long
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.
Address: Yenidogan Mh., Yahya Kemal Cd
No:42, Istanbul
Entry Fee: TL10
Opening hours: 9:00am - 4.30pm
Daily except Wednesdays.
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