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.
The best view of Bosphorus. Be sure you take your camera with you. Might be hard to climb to top for seniors.
It is worth walking from Bebek to the Castle on a sunny day. The waterfront is amazing and it is full of good Restaurants, coffee shops, etc. However, the fortress visit, though cheap, it is not amazing. It could be if a proper museum was there, or more explanation given. Also, the towers were closed and the signals were scarce…
A bit out of the way from all the other attractions, but add this one to your tour of Istanbul. We saw it from the boat trip and decided to return and it was well worth it. Note: Not really suitable for small children or those scared of heights as there is no safety rails as you clamber up rough…
I went with the Bosporus cruise,and came back traveling to Emirgan Park, Rumeli fortress and Ortakoy. Visit in the evening or early morning for brilliant views. A very evocative castle.
This is worth a visit and the hard climb. The fortress was built to launch the invasion of Istanbul. They carried their boats over the hills from Rumeli to the Golden Horn.
If you are lucky, you might catch a concert in the fortress, usually during the Istanbul festival in June/July
Not only is this an amazingly well preserved fortress but when you learn of the historical implications of it — it is even more impressive. This was one of the final "pieces of the puzzle" that Mehmet II created to enable the conquest of Constantinople in May 1453. This fortress was built in something like 89 days — there were…
the place over looks the bosphorus from it is on the European continent but very close to the Asian continent . I never saw two continents this close from one another.
Also called Europe's Fortresss, it's easily seen if you take one of the bosphorus boat tours, it is right by the second bridge on its left side. Beautiful, impressive fortress with a lot of history behind its huge thick walls. If you want to visit it, just take one of the regular boats and step out of it when you…
As soon as I stepped in that fortress I was amazed by time those people spent to build it in just few months no more !! To me this is amazing coz the fortress is huge and high leveled on the hill. To reach the fortress if you are driving, you follow the costal road of the Bosphorous Strait when…
ı can just say day , JUST DO IT ! climb all stairs , even feel war of constantinapolis.