The Rumelihisar fortress is an outpost of the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman army. What to pay attention to

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In the very center of the bustling European part of Istanbul there is a magical island of calm and tranquility. This is the powerful Turkish fortress of Rumelihisar, built on the picturesque shore of the Bosphorus, not far from the second Bosphorus bridge named after Sultan Fatih. Once upon a time it was of great strategic importance; this is eloquently evidenced by the second name of the fortress - “cut throat”. Rumelihisar appeared in 1452 by order of Sultan Mahmed Fatih and took its place on the Bosphorus shore opposite the Anadoluhisar fortress, located on the Asian side. The two fortresses jointly controlled ships entering the Bosphorus Strait and thereby “cut off” Constantinople from the Black Sea. After the surrender of the city, the fortress was used as a checkpoint, then a prison was located in its premises.

Today Rumelihisar welcomes guests as a museum, but everyone who comes here certainly feels the rich historical past of the citadel.

Over its long history, Rumelihisar was repeatedly destroyed, but each time it was carefully restored. Today it welcomes guests as a museum, but everyone who comes here certainly feels the rich historical past of the citadel.

Description

The Rumelihisar fortress consists of three main towers: Halil Pasha, Saruja Pasha and Zaganos Pasha, as well as 13 small towers connected to each other by thick and strong walls. Inside the citadel there were wooden barracks for soldiers and a mosque, and underneath there was a vast reservoir. The total area of ​​the entire structure reached 30 thousand square meters. m. Today, only the minaret has survived from the mosque destroyed during the earthquake.

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What to see

Climbing the walls of the fortress to the very top, you will probably be speechless for a moment. An impressive panorama of the Bosphorus Strait and the Asian side of Istanbul will open before you, and those with a rich imagination will complement what they see with realistic pictures of medieval naval battles with warlike Janissaries and roaring cannons.

I decided to show last year’s, also spring, footage from this wonderful fortress. It turns out that we were there just in time and managed to admire the views from the fortress walls, which, according to intelligence, are now forbidden to climb. No matter how scary it may be on the narrow stairs along the steep walls, for me all the charm of Rumeli Hisar lies in these views! What would we do without them? It was they who fascinated me so much from the pages of the guide to the eternal city... Marvelous panoramas of the walls, Istanbul shores, the Bosphorus and the second bridge across the strait, and, without fail, the marvelous purple scarlet blossoming, the Judas tree, erguvan - a symbol of the Bosphorus spring.

9. And let's go inside already. Historical murder weapons displayed on the territory of the fortress near the entrance are brought back from romantic dreams to the real world.

24. In detail:

29. And I was here;)

30. Simply beautiful.

31. I love this music in stone - the wonderful rhythm of the fortress walls, stairs, passages, battlements and tower platforms...

32. While I was admiring the views from the lower wall, Onur climbed to the top:

34. From here we could also get a circular panorama. We admire the views of the Bosphorus and the bridge, behind which, in the haze, is the exit to the Black Sea...

And a window into the past, when there was no bridge yet:

37. The coastal areas of Bebek and Arnavutkoy are among the most expensive and fashionable in Istanbul. But I wouldn’t want to live “under the bridge” even in the most elegant mansion overlooking the Bosphorus... the flow of cars along this highway suspended between heaven and earth does not stop day or night.

38. Asian coast.

39. And here is the Anadolu Hisar fortress, the elder sister of Rumeli, the oldest Turkish building in Istanbul. It threatened the Byzantine capital since 1393, but Constantinople managed to block the strait and take the breath away only half a century later, when Rumeli Hisar was built 660 meters from it, on the other bank.

Anadolu Hisar in the 19th century:

Photos and history of the fortress: romeartlover.tripod.com/Bosforo1.html
And marmara-calypso You can take a boat ride on the Göksu River, which flows into the Bosphorus near Anadolu Hisarı.

40. Another look at the bridge...

41. And an absolutely gorgeous view in the opposite direction: walls and bastions in an ocean of greenery.

43. The view, of course, is amazing, but it’s very high and scary on the narrow areas along the walls! I’ll grab these stones tighter and close my eyes to be sure, otherwise my head will start spinning and I’ll have a panic attack!

44. The best cure for the fear of heights and at the same time the reward for overcoming it is what you would never see with your own eyes if you stayed below.

Rumeli FortressHisar in Istanbul (Rumeli Hisari) is famous for two things. Firstly, because her built very quickly– in just 139 days! And secondly, because she helped the Turks capture Constantinople, the capital of the once great Byzantine Empire. Helped because it was built in the narrowest place Bosphorus Strait and blocked the path of ships from the Black Sea to Constantinople. This deprived the city of supplies from the grain regions of the empire.

Advice! You can see miniature copies of the Rumeli Hisar fortress and other attractions of Istanbul on a scale of 1:25 in. This is a wonderful place to go with children.

(!) Convenient to combine If you are traveling on your own, it makes sense to also visit the fortress after visiting it. But in my opinion, this should be done if you come to Istanbul in mid-April, because at this time you will find mass blooming of tulips in Emirgan Park (Tulip Festival). The rest of the time, the park is not very remarkable, so don’t waste time on it and only go to the fortress.

Not initiated usually surprises the fact that Constantinople could afford the construction of such a fortress under its nose (only 10 km from the city). The explanation is simple: the capital of the Byzantine Empire was in catastrophic decline and simply could not resist construction. In addition, these lands had long been under the control of the Turks.

Rumeli Hissar fortress consists of 3 main high towers and 13 small ones. The main towers are given the names of three close associates of the Sultan, who were responsible for their construction. By the way, if they missed the construction deadlines, they would have been executed, so they were in a hurry and completed the construction ahead of schedule!

The towers are connected by walls with passages wide enough for soldiers to move around. But recently, after the fall of one of the visitors, walking along the fortress walls, unfortunately, was prohibited. However, good panoramic views of the Bosphorus can be found without climbing walls or towers. Since the fortress is built on a hillside, it is enough to climb along the paved paths to the observation deck to take a photo against the backdrop of the fortress walls and ships sailing along the Bosphorus. There are benches on the site.

Inside the fortress there were once barracks and a mosque. The mosque was destroyed - only the minaret remained. The mosque that you will see now in the fortress is a remake. There was also a large cistern in the fortress for collecting and storing water supplies. By the way, you will probably visit one of the tanks, only of Byzantine design (see), in the center of Istanbul next to.

Very important! It should be recalled that during the storming of Constantinople they were first widely used gunpowder and artillery. These new military technologies largely determined the outcome of the assault. The Rumeli Hisar fortress also controlled the Bosphorus exactly by the force of artillery! Inside the fortress you will see several dozen guns of different sizes. Pay attention to the marks applied to the tools. Don't miss the curious huge guns that lie on the outside of the fortress along the fortress wall (on the left side of the entrance).

By the way! For those who are interested in what the storming of Constantinople by the Turks looked like, I highly recommend visiting Museum "Panorama 1453".

Need to say Unfortunately, not many tourists visit the Rumeli Hissar fortress, because it is located away from the city center. Nevertheless, this place is interesting. From the side you can catch a glimpse of the fortress while walking along the Bosphorus. Some walking tours along the Bosphorus include a stop at this fortress and a subsequent visit. In general, it is enough to spend on inspection no more than one hour. Half an hour was enough for me.

As I already said, it used to be possible to walk along the fortress walls, but after one of the visitors who was taking a selfie fell from the wall, this was prohibited. Perhaps for this reason, museum security asks you to leave photo tripods at the entrance. After visiting the museum, the tripods are returned. Either the guards are being mischievous, or thus preventing the opportunity to take selfies in dangerous places in the fortress.

• Who built it? Construction began on the orders of Sultan Mehmed II Fatih (the Conqueror). An information stand inside the fortress reports that only 300 craftsmen, 700-800 workers and 200 boatmen transporting stone to the construction site were employed in the construction of Rumeli Hisar.
• When they built it. The fortress was built 5.5 centuries ago in 1452, a year before the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.
• Material(stone) was delivered to the construction site by sea from quarries that were located 120 km from the fortress. Also, the material was partially used from the remains of Roman ruins that were preserved in these places.
• Construction period– 4 months 16 days. One of the Sultan's close associates was responsible for the construction of each of the three towers. They were told that they would be executed for missing deadlines, so the fortress was built ahead of schedule!





• Fortress towers named after the Sultan's assistants responsible for their construction. Zaganos Pasha Tower bears the name of the tutor of Sultan Fatih the Conqueror. It was he who inspired his “student” to conquer Constantinople. By the way, this is the tallest tower - 57 meters above the Bosphorus! Halil Pasha Tower named after the Grand Vizier. True, he ended badly, and all because he was a supporter of peaceful relations with Constantinople. When the siege of the city dragged on, he proposed to lift it. As a result, when the capital fell, he was accused of treason and executed. Saruja Tower named after the pasha, who distinguished himself as a brave warrior during the battle for Constantinople.
• Construction site. The narrowest point of the Bosphorus, 10 km from ancient Constantinople. Previously, the Byzantine fortress of Foneus was located here. It should also be mentioned, that on the opposite bank, opposite Rumeli Hisar, stands the Anadolu Hisar fortress. Only in pairs these two fortresses could control the strait. If the Rumeli Hisar fortress was ordered to be built by Fatih the Conqueror, then Anadolu Hisar was built on the orders of his great-grandfather Bayezid I. Anadolu Hisar was built almost 60 years earlier than the Rumeli fortress (in 1393), and is the oldest Turkish building in Istanbul.





• Purpose. The fortress was built to prepare for the assault on Constantinople. Its task was to deprive the city of supplies: this happened with the help of ships delivering food and goods from the Black Sea regions through the Bosphorus Strait. For this reason the fortress was named "Cutting Throats"- in fact, this is the throat of the Bosphorus.
• Fortress in action. Just three months after the completion of construction, the fortress lived up to its name and purpose. The Venetian ship tried to sail from the Black Sea through the Bosporus Strait to Constantinople, but was sunk. The ship's captain, Antonio Rizzo, was impaled and his body was left to rot in the rain and sun for everyone to see as a warning to others.
• "Satan's Stream"- this is the name of the current near the fortress, which carried the ships closer to the shore. This fact increased the effectiveness of fortress artillery.
• Further fate. After the fall of Constantinople, the main meaning of the fortress was lost, and it became a customs house. Then the fortress survived an earthquake, after which it needed to be restored. Then it was a prison and later fell into disrepair.
• Now. Currently this fortress is open to visitors. There is a small amphitheater inside, where, according to rumors, performances are sometimes held.

Operating mode. Cost of visit

• Working hours: from 09.00 to 18.00 (summer), from 09.00 to 16.30 (winter). Day off is Wednesday.
• Cost of visit: 10 TL. You can save money if you use.

How to get to Rumeli Hissar Fortress in Istanbul

• From Sultanahmet. We take the high-speed tram to the Kabatas stop. This is the final stop. We cross the road at the traffic light and go to the bus stop. We need buses 22, 22E. They go often. You need to go to the Rumeli Hisari stop. Travel time: approximately 30 minutes (if there are no traffic jams). You can guess that you are approaching the fortress by the bridge over the Bosphorus (it is located nearby). The fortress is not visible from the stop; you need to walk back about 300 meters - the fortress will be located on the opposite side of the road.
• From Taksim. From Taksim Square there are buses 40, 40T, 42T. However, I did not check these buses, but got there in another way, in my opinion, more interesting, because you can ride the funicular. So! From Taksim Square (very close to the central monument on the square) we go underground to the funicular station. We take the funicular to Kabatas station. We go out into the street and cross the road at the traffic light to catch buses 22, 22E. Then everything is as described above: we drive for half an hour to the Rumeli Hisari stop, get off and walk a little back (300 meters). The fortress will be on the opposite side of the road.

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I decided to write this post after I learned that a mosque had been restored in the fortress on the site of the amphitheater stage.
I wondered why in this place, because inside the fortress there are a lot of empty places, build wherever you want? It turned out that there used to be a mosque on the site of the amphitheater, but it collapsed long ago.
Then I again wondered why the amphitheater was built on the site of the old mosque, if, again, there was a lot of space around. And in general, what the fortress looked like before, before it was turned into a museum.
I scoured the net and found many photographs of Rumeli Hisar and the history of the fortress. Much information will be known to you, and some you will learn for the first time.

I took historical photographs of the fortress from the photo bank https://ru.pinterest.com/isteclectic/rumeli-hisarı.
After each photo I will put something like authorship, but this will not be the author, but the user who posted the photo in the photo bank.

1. The Rumeli Fortress of Hisary was built in 1452 by order of Sultan Mehmed Fatih and was built in record time - in 4 months and 16 days. Such haste was extremely important. It was urgently necessary to cut off Constantinople from the Black Sea, preparing the city for the assault. Such a rapid construction of the fortress is also explained by the fact that at that time it was built by over two thousand best builders and more than one thousand craftsmen. Some sources cite a smaller number of builders, but everyone agrees on one thing - the time frame for the construction of the fortress. The Sultan appointed Muslihiddin as the chief architect, who had previously successfully built other important fortifications and defensive structures.
The Rumelihisar fortress with 7-meter thick walls was not built from scratch, but on the foundation of the once-located Foneus fortress, built in the Byzantine era. Sultan Mehmed II (Fatih) personally supervised the work in the fortress on a daily basis.

Rumeli Fortress (1930s) The houses of the fortress were destroyed during restoration in the 1950s.


posted the photo Bir İstanbul hayali‏ @hayalleme

2. When the construction of Rumeli Hissary was completed, it became impossible to sail through the Bosphorus on a warship, since the water space at the narrowest point of the strait was “cut” - it was perfectly covered by the artillery of the two fortresses. That is why the Rumelihisary fortress received its second unofficial name Boğazkesen (cut the Bosphorus or cut throat).
Two fortresses (Rumeli Hisar and Anadolu Hisar) stood as reliable bastions opposite each other, from their walls it was possible to monitor the Bosporus and shoot the enemy in the event of an attack from the Black Sea. The Janissary garrison of 400 brave warriors, located in the Rumeli Hisary fortress, was armed with huge cannons that fired stone and metal cannonballs.

Photo posted: deniz duzgun

3. The construction of the fortress played a role and Constantinople fell in 1453. But the object did not cease to be strategically important for the city and the entire Ottoman Empire as a whole. The building received a second important purpose: it became a customs checkpoint and remained so until the devastating earthquake of 1509, when the walls of the fortress were badly damaged by tremors.

Photo posted by: Cemal Haki on

4. But the defensive bastion was quickly restored, and for more than a hundred years the fortress was used as a city prison, until it was again severely damaged by fire in 1746. The next “restorer” of the fortress was Sultan Selim III, who ruled the empire until 1807 and maintained Rumeli Hisary in proper condition for defense purposes. It should be clarified that this was not easy to do, because it was necessary to repair a vast building that occupied an area of ​​30 thousand square meters. Unfortunately, after the death of this sultan, the fortress fell into disrepair and its walls began to gradually collapse.


Photo posted by: canercangul

5. Inside the fortress itself there were numerous services and residential buildings. After the fortress lost its prison significance, the houses began to be inhabited by ordinary townspeople. These buildings gave the fortress a special flavor and charm, but the fortress itself was gradually destroyed.


Photo posted by: Barış Murat Aydoğan

6. In 1953, on behalf of President Mahmud Celal Bayar, three Turkish women architects Kahide Tamer, Selma Emler and Mualla Eyuboglu Anhegger began work on the reconstruction of the fortress. The wooden houses in the castle were demolished and the walls of the fortress were restored. Large-scale restoration work lasted more than five years.
These works were timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople. However, this was not the worst option yet. One of the projects dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople was the destruction of this fortress and the erection in its place of a 100-meter sculpture of Mehmed II “The Conqueror”. Fortunately, this project was rejected.
In 1958, the work was completed, and in 1960 the fortress was opened to tourists. The famous Artillery Museum was opened on its territory, which became one of the most interesting museums in Istanbul.

Photo posted by: Barış Murat Aydoğan

7. At the same time, it was decided to create a park area around the amphitheater in the renewed citadel, where concerts are now held. Tourists enjoy visiting not only the walls and towers of the fortress, but also a park with an amphitheater, where you can walk for long hours, enjoying the peace, quiet and views from the walls to the Bosphorus and the surrounding area. The amphitheater is a “remake”; it fits perfectly into the general appearance of the fortress. Every year, the traditional Istanbul Music Festival, one of the most popular in Turkey, was held in this amphitheater.

However, times are changing, and very quickly. This photo was taken in 2012, but already in 2015 a mosque was restored on the site of the amphitheater.

8. This place used to look like this:

9. And now in place of the stage is a restored mosque. The mosque has the same historical value as the fortress itself, as it was built around the same time.
The fact is that many architects were against the demolition of houses in the fortress and its environs, but their opinion was not listened to. Now the process is reversed.
Of course, no music festival will be held here now.

11. The fortress is best visited on a clear sunny day; it offers excellent views of the Bosphorus.

12. The stairs leading to the walls of the fortress are quite steep. It’s scary to climb them; there are no guardrails. There were no fences at all. The width of the stairs, as well as the heights of the steps, vary.
Therefore, it is not recommended to visit the fortress in rainy weather - in addition to the lack of beautiful views, it will also be slippery.

13. The views from the walls are gorgeous, you begin to understand the strategic importance of the fortress.

At the narrowest point of the Bosphorus, where its width is just over six hundred meters, there are two medieval fortresses on both banks. Both were built by Turkish troops, and both played an important role in the capture of Constantinople. The fortresses are called "Rumeli Hisary", which literally translates as "Roman Fortress", and "Anadolu Hisary", which can be translated as "Anatolian Fortress".

And if the first is a fairly popular tourist destination, the second is not spoiled by tourists, in particular due to its not very convenient location. We got to it from the hill by taxi.

Anadolu Hisary

Having reached the fortress and having overpaid for a taxi twice as much as it should have cost, we were somewhat disappointed - it turned out that to this day there are literally a few fortifications and one tower left of the fortress. In general, the inspection took us a maximum of five minutes.

A little history. The fortress was founded on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus in 1394 by order of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, who was preparing the capture of Constantinople. The mouth of the small Göksu River was chosen as the construction site. The fortress was supposed to limit the possible approach of troops to help the dying Constantinople from the Black Sea, in addition, it well defended the small bay where the Turkish fleet was based.

But the capture of Constantinople, planned by Bayezid I, was never carried out: the fortress did not provide complete control over the Bosphorus, and it was precisely at this time that the war of the Ottoman Empire with the troops of Tamerlane began. I will tell you below how the story developed further.

In the meantime, we briefly examined the fortress and wondered how we could get to the opposite side of the Bosphorus, where the second fortress, Rumeli Hisary, was located. Although the Sultan Mehmed Fatih Bridge was located nearby, all taxi drivers refused to drive across it for almost any price.

We turned to a bored group of police officers for help. They immediately perked up and a heated argument ensued between them - one argued that it was possible to get there by bus, the other agreed, but said that the bus stop was in the other direction, the other three shouted something loudly in Turkish. The argument lasted about ten minutes - it was clear that the police had already forgotten about our presence. Finally, one of them waved his hand at us, saying, go ahead, this is all going to take a long time.

We wandered towards the bridge in the hope of finding a bus. Along the way we met a fisherman, to whom we turned for help. The solution turned out to be simple: for a very reasonable price, he agreed to take us to the other side on his boat.

On the opposite side of the Bosphorus is the destination of our journey, the Rumeli Hissary fortress.

Sultan Mehmed Fatih Bridge.

And a little to the side is the Bosphorus Bridge, hiding in the sultry midday haze.

I have already raised the topic of traffic on the Bosphorus - this strait is one of the busiest sea routes. I had to ride a small boat between a continuously moving column of huge ships. Honestly, it was scary to look at a huge multi-ton ship, angrily roaring its whistle and heading at full speed to cross us.

Well, here is the European side. We've arrived, it seems.

Rumeli Hisary

At the entrance to the fortress, the guards force you to hand over the tripod hanging on your backpack - they say “no professional photo”. Okay, I’ll take a little break from it.

The fortress was built in 1452 by Sultan Mehmed Fatih, again during preparations for the assault on Constantinople.

Together with Hisarya, located on the other side of Anadolu, built fifty years earlier, the fortress completely blocked the strait - thus the problem with the approach of possible support to Constantinople from the Black Sea was solved. After construction was completed, the fortification acquired another name - Bogazkesen, which translates as “Cut Throat”.

Construction proceeded at an incredibly fast pace - the fortress was completely built in 139 days.

The fortress has three main towers and thirteen small observation towers.

The tallest and most powerful tower is the northern one, named after the brave Ottoman warrior Sarıji Pasha. Its height is 28 meters, and the thickness of the walls is just over seven. Previously, inside the tower there were wooden barracks for the garrison, a small reservoir and a mosque, of which only a small part of the minaret remains.

A year after the construction of the fortress by Mehmed, Fatih began the assault on the Byzantine capital. What happened next - we all know very well...