SHORT HISTORY OF YEDIKULE FORTRESS
Fatih Sultan Mehmed knew that he needed a secure place for the state treasures. He successfully conquered what, until 1453, was an unconquerable city. But now he needed to establish necessary state institutions as he moved the Ottoman capital city from Edirne to Istanbul.
Yedikule Fortress was constructed in 1458. They strategically chose the place where to build this fortress by utilising the already existing Byzantine structures.
So, they created this seven tower complex by adding three towers. Two of the existing towers used to be the Northern and Southern Marble Towers with the triumphal Golden Gate in between which was one of the main entrances into Constantinople, that you can see in the photos above.
ROYAL DUNGEON
In the sixteen century, the Royal Treasury was moved to Topkapi Palace. But, the Yedikule Fortress remained as a formidable dungeon.
Perhaps, the most important prisoner to be kept in the fortress was Sultan Osman II. Janissaries executed him there in 1622. But many Ottoman pashas, victims of palace intrigue and rivalries, also lost their lives in the Yedikule Fortress, together with political opponents of the Ottoman imperial court.
The fortress was also a prison for ambassadors of states which were in war with the Ottoman state.
Try to imagine the way people deposited in one of the holes within the tower walls felt, waiting for their execution. Even now as a museum the place looks ominous, let alone at the time when it functioned as a dungeon.
Yedikule Fortress is a very good starting point should you want to see Theodosian Walls and explore Byzantine heritage. It’s also an important Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s legacy. It reminded me of the Smederevo Fortress in Serbia, but that’s not strange because it’s a typical medieval construction.
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