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In the very center of the bustling European part of Istanbul, there is a magical island of peace and tranquility. This is a powerful Turkish fortress Rumelihisar, built on picturesque coast Bosphorus, not far from the second Bosphorus bridge named after Sultan Fatih. Once it was of great strategic importance, this is eloquently indicated by the second name of the fortress - "slit throat". Rumelihisar appeared in 1452 by order of Sultan Mahmed Fatih and took its place on the Bosphorus coast opposite the Anadoluhisar fortress, located on the Asian side. The two fortresses jointly controlled the 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 hosts guests as a museum, but everyone who comes here will certainly feel the rich historical past of the citadel.
During its long history, Rumelihisar was repeatedly destroyed, but each time it was carefully restored. Today it hosts guests as a museum, but everyone who comes here certainly feels the rich historical past of the citadel.
Description
Rumelihisar Fortress consists of three main towers: Khalil Pasha, Saruja Pasha and Zaganos Pasha, as well as 13 small towers, interconnected by thick and strong walls. Inside the citadel there were wooden barracks for soldiers and a mosque, under it there was a vast reservoir. total area the entire structure reached 30 thousand square meters. m. Today, from the mosque destroyed during the earthquake, only the minaret has survived.
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What to see
Climbing the walls of the fortress to the very top, you are likely to be speechless for a moment. An impressive panorama of the Bosporus and the Asian side of Istanbul will open before you, and the owners of a rich imagination will complement what they see with realistic pictures of medieval naval battles with warlike Janissaries and roaring cannons.
I decided to write this post after I learned that a mosque was restored in the fortress on the site of the amphitheater stage.
I wondered why exactly at this place, because inside the fortress there are a lot of empty places, build where you want? It turned out that there used to be a mosque on the site of the amphitheater, but it had long since collapsed.
Then I again thought about why the amphitheater was built precisely on the site of the old mosque, if, again, there is a lot of space around. And in general, how the fortress looked before, before it was turned into a museum.
Digging from the net, I found many photos of Rumeli Hisar and the history of the fortress. Many of the information will be known to you, and some you will learn for the first time.
The historical photographs of the fortress were taken by me from the photobank https://ru.pinterest.com/isteclectic/rumeli-hisarı.
After each photo, I will put something like authorship, but it will not be the author, but the user who posted the photo in the photo bank.
1. Rumeli Hisary Fortress was built in 1452 by order of Sultan Mehmed Fatih and built in record time - 4 months and 16 days. This haste was of the utmost importance. It was necessary to urgently 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 being built by over two thousand of the best builders and more than one thousand craftsmen. Some sources call a smaller number of builders, but all agree on one thing - in the period of 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 built not from scratch, but on the foundation of the former Byzantine fortress of Foneus. Sultan Mehmed II (Fatih) daily personally supervised the work in the fortress.
Rumeli Fortress (1930s) The houses of the fortress were destroyed during restoration in the 1950s.
photo posted Bir İstanbul hayali
@hayalleme
2. When the construction of Rumeli Hisary was completed, it became impossible to sail through the Bosporus on a warship, since the water space in the narrowest part of the strait was “cut” - it was perfectly shot through by the artillery of two fortresses. That is why the Rumelihisari fortress got its second unofficial name Boğazkesen (cutting 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 Bosphorus and shoot the enemy in case of an attack from the Black Sea. The Janissary garrison of 400 brave warriors, located in the fortress of Rumeli Hisary, was armed with huge cannons that fired stone and metal cannonballs.
Photo posted by: deniz duzgun
3. The construction of the fortress played its role and Constantinople fell in 1453. But the object has not ceased to be strategically important for the city and the whole Ottoman Empire generally. The construction 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 badly damaged by fire in 1746. The next "restorer" of the fortress was Sultan Selim III, who ruled the empire until 1807 and maintained Rumeli Hisari in proper form for defense purposes. It should be clarified that this was not easy to do, because it was necessary to repair the vast building, which occupied an area of 30 thousand square meters. Unfortunately, after the death of this Sultan, the fortress fell into disrepair, its walls began to gradually collapse. 5. Numerous services and residential buildings were located inside the fortress itself. After the fortress lost its prison significance, houses began to be populated by ordinary townspeople. These buildings gave the fortress a special flavor and charm, but the fortress itself was gradually destroyed. 6. In 1953, on behalf of President Mahmud Celal Bayar, three Turkish women architects Kahide Tamer, Selma Emler and Mualla Eyyuboglu 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 continued for more than five years. 7. At the same time, it was decided to arrange a park area around the amphitheater in the renovated citadel, where concerts are now held. Tourists are happy to visit 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 silence, peace and views from the walls of the Bosphorus and the surrounding area. The amphitheater is a "remake", it fits perfectly into the general view of the fortress. Every year, this amphitheater hosted the traditional Istanbul Music Festival, one of the most popular in Turkey. 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, there is a restored mosque. The mosque has the same historical value as the fortress itself, as it was built around the same time. 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. Climbing them is scary, there are no fences as a class. There were no barriers at all. The width of the stairs, as well as the heights of the steps, are different. 13. The views from the walls are gorgeous, you begin to understand the strategic importance of the fortress.
Photo posted by: canercangul
Photo posted by: Barış Murat Aydoğan
These works were dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople. However, this was still not the worst option. One of the projects dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople was the destruction of this fortress and the erection of a 100-meter sculpture of Mehmed II "The Conqueror" in its place. Fortunately, this project was rejected.
In 1958, the work was completed, and in 1960 the fortress was opened to tourists. On its territory opened famous museum Artillery, which became one of the most interesting museums Istanbul. 
Photo posted by: Barış Murat Aydoğan
The fact is that many architects were against the demolition of houses in the fortress and its environs, but their opinion was not heeded. Now the process is reversed.
Of course, now there will be no music festival here. 
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. 
After the construction of the Anadoluhisari fortress, on the opposite bank, by order of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, in 1452 the Rumelihisari fortress was built. It was a strategically important object of the Ottoman Empire on the Bosphorus, guarding the gates of the Golden Horn Bay.
01. Near the fortress is the bridge of Sultan Mehmed Fatih. The second suspension bridge across the Bosphorus Strait. The bridge was opened on May 29, 1988, on the 535th anniversary of the conquest of the city, and named after the conqueror of Istanbul - Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. The length of the bridge is 1510 meters, the height of the supports is 165 meters above the water.
02. Entrance costs only 5 lira. Seeing the camera, the guard wanted to check the backpack. As a result, the tripod had to be left at the entrance. And my tripod can hardly be called such - Joby Gorillapod. Who knows will understand. Well, okay, the weather is good, I won't need it. 
03. The fortress consists of 3 large and 13 small towers, which were interconnected by thick walls. This tower was named after the great vizier Chandarla Khalil Pasha. It has a 12-coal shape, the rest of the towers are round. 
04. Nothing interesting inside 
05. A small Museum of Artillery, opened here in 1960 after reconstruction. 
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07. View of the Bosphorus from the wall. The fortress was built in the narrowest part of the strait, the width of which in this part is 660 meters. 
08. The construction of the fortress was completed in record time - in 4 months and 16 days, more than 1000 craftsmen and 2000 builders were involved in the construction. It simply became impossible to sail through the Bosphorus, a bottleneck between the fortresses, and the fortress itself was nicknamed "throat cut". On May 29, 1453, after a long siege, Constantinople fell. 
09. Inside there was a small mosque, from which only a minaret has survived to our time. Now excavations are being carried out here, perhaps the mosque will be restored. Around the minaret you can see a summer theater, from time to time there are performances and concerts under open sky. 
10. On the left you can see the highest and most powerful tower. It is named after the brave Ottoman warrior Sarydzhi Pasha. Its height is 28 m, its diameter is about 23 m, and the thickness of the walls is 7 m. 
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12. Powerful fortress walls. The passage to the towers is closed, but you can walk along the walls. It must be borne in mind that the steep steps are not at all fenced with railings. 
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14. The most tall tower bears the name of the Grand Vizier - Zaganos Pasha. Height above sea level - 57 meters. 
15. Steep stairs lead to it 
16. The view from it is simply fantastic.
17. A garrison of Janissaries was organized in the fortress, daily shooting through the strait with their giant cannons, and the passage of all foreign ships along the Bosphorus was forbidden. Once a Venetian ship tried to break into the city and ignored the signal to stop. It was immediately sunk, and all the miraculously surviving sailors were impaled. 
18. Pleasure boat 
19. Sea barge. White dots on the water - seagulls. 
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23. Around the walls, in addition to residential areas, there is a small cemetery. 
24. If you don’t want to jump like a goat on the walls, you can sit in the shade of trees and enjoy the views. 
25. I noticed a flock of parrots on a tree. And it's in January :) 
26. That's exactly what I was talking about these shops 
27. The fortress remained impregnable. 
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32. Gate near the tower of Sariji Pasha 
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34. After the fall of Constantinople, the fortress served as a customs post. Rumelihiras completely lost its strategic importance in the 17th century. and was turned into a prison, nicknamed the castle of oblivion. In 1960 it was opened as a museum. 
That's all. You can get to the fortress in the following way:
From Sultanahmet: take the tram to the terminus Kabatas, from there take bus 22RE, 25E, or 22.
There are buses from Taksim to the fortress: 40, 40T, 42T.
Other photo reports from this trip:
| Belgrade, day 2 |
Continuing in our search for interesting things to move away from the center of Istanbul, we went to the Rumelihisar fortress, located near the second Bosphorus bridge. Mehmet Fatih on a hill in the European part of the city in the Bebek district. We saw her photographs from the Bosporus side on some website of Istanbul sights and decided to definitely visit this place, because, judging by the photo, it is perfectly preserved.
Not only the Rumelihisar fortress, but the whole of Istanbul is beautiful at night.
How to get to Rumelihisar Fortress
The road to Rumeli Hisari from our stop at Sultanahmet Square started again from the tram, on which we got to the final stop Kabatash and then moved to bus 25E(you can also use 22 and 22 RE). You also need to pay on the bus with an Istanbul Card or a token (but it's more expensive). The fare is the standard 4 lire with a token or 2.15 with a card.
After 25 minutes, the bus brought us to the stop of the same name near the fortress. It was simply impossible not to walk along the embankment, so before going to the museum we sat and breathed in the sea wind, then drank delicious Turkish tea, and only then went to the fortress, the entrance to which you will notice 100 meters from the stop, in the opposite direction.
Mehmed Fatih Bridge Beautiful building with access to the pier We drink tea
History and modern life of Rumelihisar fortress
If you start looking for information about this Istanbul landmark, then, first of all, you will come across different names for this fortress - Rumelihisar, Rumeli Hisary, Rumeli Fortress or even Boaz-Kesen ("crossing the strait" or "cutting the throat" in Turkish) . However, all these discrepancies lead to one interpretation: Rumeli means Roman (that is, the land of the former Roman Empire), and Hisar (or hisari (Hisars) in Turkish) is a Greek fortress, and it was this name that passed into Turkish language. On the opposite side of the Bosporus stands Anadoluhisar and behind this beautiful name hidden fortifications built almost a hundred years earlier on the Asian side of the strait (in Anatolia).
Once a residential area was not only next to the fortress, but also inside it. But not for long, the fire did its job. The Rumelihisar fortress was built in the future Istanbul, and then a suburb of Constantinople, in 1452 in as soon as possible(various architects who built the towers of the fortress competed with each other in time and skill) by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror for the siege of Constantinople and blocking the Bosphorus.
Structurally, it consists of three large beautiful towers, named after the commanders of the Sultan, connected by fortress walls, about 7 m wide, and auxiliary watchtowers. On its territory, in addition to cellars for supplies and weapons, there was a small mosque, from which only a minaret remains today. The soldiers lived in specially built wooden houses. Water was supplied from a large cistern through three wall fountains, of which only one remained. The strategic importance of the fortress was significant: together with the Anatolian fortress built on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, Rumelskaya, it made it possible to completely control the strait and prevent the flow of aid for the Byzantine emperor from the Black Sea. By the way, in 1453, when the siege of Constantinople began, the emperor could wait for help from the Genoese, whose colonies were located in today's Crimea in the city of Kaffa (Feodosia), and in Sinop (today Black Sea coast Turkey).
There is a legend that in terms of the Rumelihisar fortress, it resembles the spelling of the name of the prophet Mohammed, which in Arabic coincides with the spelling of the name of the Sultan himself - Mehmed. Allegedly, the latter thus ensured the success of the military campaign and paid tribute to the prophet and, perhaps, glorified himself.
After the capture of the capital of Byzantium, military installations lost their significance and were later used as a customs checkpoint, a prison. However, the cannons that smashed the Genoese ships in the 15th century continued to greet the sultans passing through the strait until the middle of the 19th century. Several fires and lack of proper attention led to the partial destruction of the fortress walls. At the same time, along with the expansion of the residential area of Istanbul, people began to settle near the fortress and in it itself. Today, the prestigious Bebek district is located here, and an open-air theater operates on the territory of the museum. If you don’t get tired of walking, then nearby - above the fortress - you can walk through the well-groomed park areas and look at the apartments of wealthy Istanbulites.
Our self-guided tour of the Rumel Fortress
During our visit, restoration work was carried out on the territory of Rumeli Hisary, new tiles were laid, scaffolding stood in several places, but this did not stop us from walking calmly around the museum. Of the tourists walking with us, maybe six or seven people, it was very quiet and calm. We paid 10 Turkish liras for the entrance, and the museum itself is open from 9.30 to 16.30.
Rumelihisar is not very large in terms of area, but there is where to spend time in it. We looked at the towers for a long time (you can’t go inside, but you can look in - military resting places, wooden stairs, samples of cannonballs, very atmospheric). It is not allowed to walk along the walls of the fortress now, we were warned about this several times, and the guards are constantly watching the tourists. It turned out that recently there was an accident and now everyone is forbidden to climb the stairs to the walls. But we were not especially eager to go there, beautiful views on the Bosphorus open and just viewing platforms fortresses. Several times we sat down in the shade on the benches and steps, looked at the opening landscape, and the higher you climb, the more and more admiration they cause - the blue of the Bosphorus, the majestic Fatih Bridge, sailing merchant ships and tourist steamboats, the development of the Asian side.
Be sure to find behind the palace monument to the famous corsair Barbarossa- commander navy Suleiman the Magnificent.At one time, Barbarossa terrified the entire Mediterranean. There is his tomb.
Now we'll go to medieval fortress. Tourists usually see Rumeli Hisari from the water and limit themselves to that, but in vain ...
How to get from Dolmabahce to Rumeli Hasary:
- You left Dolmabahce most likely from the side of the Harem. Walk down the street a little further to the palace Chiragan . There is a bus stop there. Take any bus in the direction that says Sariyer or Bebek or one of the northern Bosphorus regions. Just in case, check - ask the driver "Rumeli Hisari? Sahil Yolu?" (rumeli hisari? seaside road?). You will see for yourself where to get out, look out the window, as soon as you see the Second Bosphorus Bridge close, start to worry ... Ask the passengers, they will tell you.
- From Dolmabahce step back from the entrance. door-to the bus stop Kabatas. bus 25E Kabatash - Sarier(stop: the final tram, cross the road towards the Bosphorus, each stop booth has routes that drive up to it). stop - Asyan and go a little forward, or stop Rumeli Hisary and go back. impossible to get lost the bus is coming almost all the time along the Bosphorus. You will see the fortress. travel - 1.5 lira. entrance - 3 lira, open until 17:00, day off - Wednesday. We missed Asyan, went further and did not regret it - climbed up the hill under the Fatih bridge - took great pictures of the bridge and the Bosphorus, and then rolled down the hill to Rumeli Hisary
- We got on the bus, passed one Bosphorus bridge, drive further, saw the 2nd bridge ahead, then the fortress wall will begin, some burials next to it, then the wall will come almost close to the road and after a hundred meters it will sharply almost perpendicularly leave the road, will go parallel to the road for some distance, there will be cafes near the road. We pressed the button on the bus, got off at the bus stop, went back along the road about 300 meters, saw the gate - entered the RX. Landmark - Bosphorus bridge, you should not pass under it.
- Any buses to the side Sarier
- In Rumelihisari Bus 25T from Taksim Square or 25E, 40, 41 from Kabotash The most convenient way is from SA by tram to Kabatash (terminal), and then take bus 25E to the fortress. More precisely, by any bus moving in the direction of Sariyer. The fortress is located in front of the second Bosphorus bridge.
- By tram to Kabatas, and there is a 25E bus that runs every 10 minutes or 22, 22RE. There are also buses from Taksim 40, 40T, 42T. You will see the fortress from the bus. It's right on the beach, next to the road. The bus passes by and stops behind her. It is not far from the 2nd Bosphorus bridge. And do not forget to press the button on the handrail on the bus. This should be done whenever you want to get off, and gives the driver a signal to stop at the next stop.
There is a park near the Chiragan Palace, we didn’t have enough time for it, but the information can and will be useful to you .
In the territory Yildiz park, originally intended for the Chiragan Palace, there are summer mansions, pavilions, gazebos and chalets. They are scattered over a vast territory among hills and valleys facing the coast of the Bosporus and surrounded by high walls. The palace complex covers an area of about 500 thousand square meters. m. Selim III built here for his mother. In one of the buildings palace complex located city Museum (Şehir Müzesi, Wed-Sun 09.00-16.00), which introduces the history of Istanbul from the middle of the 15th century. Among the exhibits of the museum are paintings of the 18th-19th centuries, depicting the daily life of the city in the Ottoman era. One of the most impressive buildings of the palace complex Yildiz became Pavilion Chalet (Fri-Sun 09.30-17.00) - a large wooden mansion intended for honored guests of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II. One part of the building (1880) resembles a Swiss country house - a chalet. Since 1994 in pavilion Chalet a museum has been opened, which exhibits furniture, carpets, huge ceramic stoves and palace interior items of that time, as well as carved wooden products and porcelain produced in the workshops of the palace.
Working mode: Mon-Sun 9.00-17.30 Admission free
Rumelihisari
Before the start of the siege of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II decided to build another fortress on the European shore of the Bosporus, opposite the existing fortifications of Anadolu Hisary, erected by Bayazid I in 1394. Such a balance of power in the narrowest part of the strait made it possible to completely control the passage of ships through the Bosporus and prevent possible assistance to the Byzantines from the Danube and the Black Sea. In the past, Roman fortifications stood on this very spot, then a monastery was built there. The fortifications were later used by the Byzantines and Genoese as a prison.
The construction of the fortress began in April 1452 and continued at an accelerated pace. The height of the largest northern tower (Saryji Pasha) with 9 tiers is 28 m. Its diameter is about 23 m, and the thickness of the walls is 7 m. with other additional walls. The greatest length of the outer walls of the citadel from north to south reached 150 m. The total area of the structure was more than 30 thousand square meters. m.
