THE RUMELI FORTRESS (RUMELI HISARI )

Rumeli Hisari, which has seated Istanbul and the Bosphorus with the Turkish stamp, and which is one of the world's most beautiful works of military architecture, stands in the middle part of the Bosphorus as a noble edifice of history. Like all great edifices of genius, this fort, which fills its place with all due grandeur and judiciousness, occupies an exact geographical and strategic position.

The Turks came to the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus early in the 14th Century, and by this first part of the century they had that district under their control. Beyazid I, one of the first rulers of the Ottoman State, built the fort which you see on the opposite shore. This is the "Anadolu Hisari", also called "Guzelce Hisar". Turks after having conquered a part of the Balkan peninsula by crossing 'Canakkale', (the Dardanelles) had encircled Istanbul from over Thrace. MEHMED II, this 21 year old sovereign, had put it into his head to conquer the politically, militarily and socially decaying Byzantium. With this in mind, the first step the young ruler took was to build a fort at this spot. The function of the two forts on either shore of the Bosphorus was to control the strait, the help coming to Byzantium and the traffic of foreign ships sailing to and from the Black Sea. The width of the Bosphorus at this place being 660 meters constitutes the narrowest spot. Turkish strategy benefitted from this fact. As a matter of fact in November 1452 the Venitian line of battleship under the direction of Antonio Rizo was sunk for having disregarded the signals given by the Fort.

The construction of the 'Hisar' was begun with the preparations made in the winter of 1451-1452. The young ruler who came here in March 1452, personally began building the Fort together with a 1000 foremen and 2000 workers. It is a well known fact that all the viziers and pashas together with the monarch contributed in the construction of the 'Hisar' by carrying stones and building material. All the historical sources agree that the work was completed in four months, that is to say, in August 1452. To erect such an edifice in so short a time and under medieval conditions goes to prove that the Turks, compared to their neighbours, were not only superior in the military field but also in the technical and cultural one.

It appears that the upper citadel on the right hand side was built under the supervision of 'Saruga Pasa', the one on the left under that of 'Zaganos Pasa', and the one on the coast under the supervision of 'Haul Pasa'. The inscription on the walls of the 'Zaganos Pasa' citadel seems to verify the rumour concerning the fact that he supervised the building of it. The upper citadel on the right hand side rises to a height of 43 meters from sea level, the one on the left hand side to a height of 57 meters. The area between the two citadels forms a valley. The citadel below, at the time it was built, almost reached the coast and was protected by an outside wall. The architecture of the three citadels and the walls connecting them has been very well calculated. Depending upon the degree of their strategic importance, the thickness of the connecting walls differs from 3 to 5 meters. The door of the citadel on the coast opens to the inner yard, whereas the ones above have no doors opening to the walls or any other connection with them. For this reason, once the two citadels main doors reached by stairs are closed, every connection with the outside world is severed.

The exterior diameter of the right hand side citadel measures 23.000 meters; its wall is 7 meters thick and it is 33 meters tall if measured from the foundation. The one on the coast has the same measurements except that it is 2 m. taller. The citadel on the left hand side has somewhat different measurements; the exterior diameter is 26.70 meters, its wail is 5.7 meters thick and its height 25.30 meters. The two upper citadels are cylindrical in form, whereas the coastal one is twelve cornered. There are five towers between the two upper citadels, six between the left hand side and the coastal one, and the upper right hand side one. The fort with such measurements figures among the world's stateliest medieval buildings. Inside the citadels there used to be storeys in wooden construction. The coastal citadel had 8 storeys, the other two had 9 each. Of these only the storeys of this upper right hand side citadel have remained.

The top parts of the towers between the citadels were open and the sides loop-holed. The tops of the three big citadels had lead-covered wooden hoods. These seem to have existed until the 19th Century. Tournefort who had come to Istanbul at the beginning of the 13th Century mentioned these hoods, and the painter melting included drawings of the hoods in his beautiful album printed in 1819 in Paris. In the middle of the yard there used to be a small mosque built by the Conqueror. Today only the minaret can be seen as a remmant.

After the conquest of Istanbul and the construction of many Turkish Forts on the Black Sea. Rumeli Hisari lost its strategic importance. In the time of the Conqueror, Gedik Ahmed Pasa, one of the outstanding viziers, had objected to a mobilization that was to be made to Albania. For this reason he was imprisoned in the Fort. After that, the idea of using "Rumeli Hisari" as a dungeon was born. Guilty janissaries were rowed there and their execution was announced by cannon shots. When they began to imprison European delegations, the Fort was to acquire an special reputation. The famous Austrian historian Hammer mentions the names of some ambassadors put in the dungeon. One can read their hand writing on the walls. In the year 1551 Ferdinand's ambassador was imprisoned there. In 1593, upon the escape from the fort of a group of foreigners, some Turkish guards were executed. During the Cretan war the Venitian Ambassador Sorenzo, who was in Istanbul at the time, had been forbidden to correspond with his country. When he disobeyed this decree, he and his retinue were imprisoned in the dungean. Later when it was understood that the real culprit was the head translator Grille, they executed this later. Evliya Celebi, the well-known Turkish historian and travel writer, mentions in his writings that 300 janissaries kept continuous watch at the Fort, and that 105 cannons existed.