| |
|
CASTLES ON THE BOSPHORUS
AND ÇANAKKALE STRAITS |
|
The castles
of Anadolu Hisarı and Rumeli Hisarı on the Bosphorus. |
|
|
|
Since
antiquity the Bosphorus and Çanakkale Straits which link the
Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Marmara Sea have been of
crucial strategic importance, and in Ottoman times four pairs of
castles were built on these straits at the narrowest points.
From these cannon could be fired from both the European and
Asian shores, so preventing the passage of enemy warships.
|
Construction
of Rumeli Hisarı began in 1452 |
The castle at the southernmost point of the Gelibolu (Gallipoli)
peninsular was called Seddülbahir, and facing it on the Asian
shore, overlooking the Plain of Troy, was Kumkale. Both castles
were built in 1656 by Grand Vezir Koprülü Mehmed Paşa after the
Venetians blockaded Çanakkale Strait and captured the islands of
Bozcaada (Tenedos) and Limni (Lemnos) as a countermeasure in the
tug of war for Crete. The Ottomans had been attempting to seize
Crete from the Venetians since 1645, but only after the castles
had been built was the Ottoman navy able to first raise the
blockade and regain possession of Bozcaada and Limni, and then
in 1669 conquer Crete. |
Both castles can be seen in a painting by an Ottoman artist
depicting a battle between the Ottoman and Venetian navies. The
painting is in an album in the Correr Museum in Venice.
The other two castles on Çanakkale Strait are Kilitbahir on the
European shore and Kale-i Sultaniye on the Asian shore, both
built by Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481) and later renovated by
Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Kale-i
Sultaniye has been known by several other names. including Bogaz,
c;imenlik and c;anakkale. The keep of Kilitbahir was in the form
of a three-leaf clover. and the outer ramparts were also
reminiscent of a clover leaf. The walls of the keep rose from
the water's edge. Kale-i Sultaniye was quadrilateral in plan
and encircled by moats.
|
|
The castles of Anadolu Hisan and Rumeli Hisan on the Bosphorus
are both still standing today. The former was built on the
Asian shore at the narrowest point by Sultan Bayezid I
(1389-1402) half a century before the conquest of Istanbul in
1453 as a means of controlling ships passing through the strait,
while Rumeli Hisan was built in 1452 by Sultan Mehmed II, who at
the same time increased the strength of Anadolu Hisan by
building additional towers and walls with battlements and
loopholes. Anadolu Hisan originally contained a mosque and a
prayer terrace. In the 19th century the sea along the shore in
front of the castle was filled in and wooden houses built on
the reclaimed land.
Rumeli Hisan, also known as Yeni Hisar or Güzel Hisar, was
completed in just four months, and following the conquest of
Istanbul additional towers with conical roofs were built on the
landward side and used as a prison. |
The castles
of Kilitbahir and Kale-i Sultaniye on the Çanakkale Strait can
be seen in the upper and lower parts of the picture respectively |
Executions were also carried out here, and the castle became
known as the Black Tower. The 17th century writer Evliya Çelebi
records that inside the walls was a mosque named Fatih Mosque
after Mehmet the Conqueror, 180 houses providing lodging for the
soldiers of the garrison, two smaller mosques and two granaries.
The village outside the walls on the seaward side consisted of I
060 houses, three mosques, eleven mescits, seven schools, one
public bath and 200 shops. The houses inside the walls have long
since been swept away, but the mosque remains.
|
This painting
by an Ottoman artist in the Correr Museum in Venice depicting
the battle between the Ottoman and Venetian navies at Çanakkale
shows the castles of Kumkale and Seddülbahir on the narrowest
part of the strait |
An 18th century miniature painting in Topkapı Palace depicts
both of these Bosphorus castles, and another in the Museum of
Turkish and Islamic Art depicts Rumeli Castle, In the British
Museum in London there is a third miniature painting showing
both castles, but the artist has relied rather on his
imagination than observation, since the architecture is English
in character and they are wrongly positioned. A fourth miniature
showing both castles is in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore.
Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640) built two more castles at the
northern mouth of the Bosphorus where the strait flows into the
Black Sea, Although no trace remains of that on the European
shore, the extensive ruins of the other can still be seen at
Anadolu Kavağı. |
|
|
|
The
sole known picture of these two castles before they fell into
ruins is in the abovementioned album in the Correr Museum in
Venice. Evliya Çelebi tells us that the quadrilateral castle at
Rumeli Kavagl measured 300 metres across and that there were
sixty houses for the soldiers of the garrison and a hundred
cannon inside its walls. The castle facing it on the opposite
shore at Anadolu Kavagl was also quadrilateral, measuring 240
metres across and with walls 20 m in height It contained eighty
houses to accommodate the garrison and one hundred cannon.
The French artillery engineer François Baron de Tott, who
arrived in Turkey in 1755, supervised some additions to the
castles on the Bosphorus, and in Ino strengthened two of the
castles on Çanakkale Strait. |
The castles
of Rumeli Kavağı and
Anadolu Kavağı at the northern end of the Bosphorus.
Only the latter survives today. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Anadolu Hisarı (left) and Rumeli Hisarı (right) are the two
oldest castles on the Bosphorus, and both are still standing
today.
|
|
|
|
Source: Skylife 06/02 |
|
Text
and visual materials Metin AND* |
|
*Metin
And is a member of the Turkish academy of Sciences and author of
numerous books on historical subject. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
