Yedikule Fortress

About Yedikule Fortress

Fortress in Istanbul, Turkey

Yedikule Fortress, the "Fortress of the Seven Towers", is a historic stronghold in the Yedikule neighbourhood of Fatih at the southern end of Istanbul's land walls, near the Sea of Marmara. It was built in 1458 on the orders of Sultan Mehmed II, five years after the conquest, by adding three new towers to a section of the ancient Walls of Constantinople and fully enclosing it, including the twin towers of the Golden Gate, the triumphal entrance built by the emperors Theodosius I and Theodosius II as the ceremonial way into the city. Mehmed needed a secure place for his treasury and documents, so the Golden Gate was bricked up and the walls reinforced to form a fortress whose seven towers stored the state's valuables. In the following century the treasury moved to Topkapı Palace and the fort became a prison for high-ranking detainees and the envoys of states at war with the empire; Sultan Osman II was strangled here in 1622. It remained in use until 1837, after which the Golden Gate was reopened. Over the centuries the dungeon's intrigues passed into legends, stories and the arts. Today visitors can walk through the wide inner courtyard and climb the walls and towers for views along the city walls stretching north, over the Sea of Marmara and the neighbouring market gardens.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye