Rumelihisarı (Fortress), located in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, Turkey, on a hill at the European side of the Bosphorus. It gives the name of the quarter around it. It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before he conquered Constantinople. The three great towers were named after three of Mehmed II’s viziers, Sadrazam Çandarlı Halil Pasha, who built the big tower next to the gate, Zağanos Pasha, who built the south tower, and Sarıca Pasha, who built the north tower.
Rumelihisarı was built by Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452 in order to control the sea traffic on the Bosphorus strait and prevent aid from the Black Sea to reach Constantinople during the Turkish siege of the city in 1453, particularly from the Genoese colonies such as Caffa, Sinop and Amasra. In a previous Ottoman attempt to conquer the city, Sultan Murad II (1404–1451) had encountered difficulties due to a blockade of the Bosphorus by the Byzantine fleet.
Since 1960 Rumelihisarı has been a museum and an open-air theater for various concerts at festivals during the summer months.
Halil Pasha Tower, Rumelihisarı.
General view from Rumelihisarı, with the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in the background.
A must try trip…
Rent a small convenient car and take the road from its start, down to ortakoy and bebek stop at one of their sea side cafes for some turkish coffee sahleb drink or black tea,then drive allll the way up till you reach the fortress lovely road overlooking black sea till you reach the end spot ,the…
I loved the Rumeli Fortress. A huge medieval fortress which to my delight we were able to climb all over
I felt like I was an explorer out of a movie, scaling steep steps up to the top of the 30-odd metre high walls and gazing down on beautiful views of the Bosphorus.
A word of warning: the steps are…
A bit out-of-the-beaten usual tourist path. When everyone else is eager to see the sights of Sultanahmet, few ventured to see this up close, as it is also visible the ferry doing the bosphorous cruise.
Rumelihisari is built opposite the Anadoluhisari on the narrowest point of the mighty bosphorous in order to control the sea traffic and to conquer Istanbul…
The fortress is an excellent escape from all of the crowds in the old town area. We took a taxi from Sultanahmet area and the cost was approximately 30 Turkish Lira. You could also take the tram to the last stop (to the Taksim cable car) and then take a taxi and it would be a bit less. It is…
For 5 TL, you can visit the huge, impressive, and completely breathtaking (literally; wait until you try those stairs) Rumeli Hisari in north Istanbul. I saw a photo of this on a photo blog I follow and knew I had to make it a part of my trip to Istanbul. I am so glad I did; it was one of…
I visited the Rumeli Hisari in early November, on a nice sunny day. Not a good idea to go when it is raining or wet, as the stones would be very slippery. The fortress was built in 1453 in only 4 months, by order of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, to protect Istanbul from attack by the Venetians and Genoese. Now it…
You should definitely take a walk by Bosphorous in Rumeli Hisarı… Just 5 Dollar! It was one of my favorite in Instanbul!
Just 5 liras to enter (circa £1.70; $3). Very few people. A little dangerous in terms of there being no handrails, and rather terrifying for someone like me who suffers from mediocre vertigo. You can walk along the walls in various sections – perhaps 6 or 7 areas of the wall. It's actually a far more rewarding and interesting wall-walking…
From taksim I paid 35 turkısh lıra for taxi to reach there. Is it located second brıdge of ıstabul. There is nothıng specıal. I didnt lıke
An amazing old castle just on the coast line of Bosphorus with a very beautiful sight, great garden and relaxing atmosphere.
Fee: 5TL
Hints:
– Do not forget to bring your camera.
– Do not bring your little kids! The place has much more guard-less stairs than you can even imagine.
– On your return path, have a short walk…