Description of the attraction
Currently, the Yedikule fortress is in excellent condition and amazes visitors with powerful walls, high towers, dark and gloomy basements, which were intended for the enemies of the Ottoman Empire and for keeping the treasury.
Once upon a time, back in the days of Constantinople, on the site of the fortress there was the edge of the city and the gate to enter the city. The gates were called Golden and reliably protected the city from invaders. In the 9th century, the city was besieged by the Slavs, in the 7th century - by the Arabs, but they both left with ransom and did not conquer the city. Before the siege was lifted, the enemies nailed their shields over the city gates.
Despite its high-profile name, the Golden Gate is a very modest marble structure, made in the form of a triumphal arch and having a little secret. And the secret is that the doors of the arch, which glittered like gold, were made of brass. Near the Golden Gate, there is the Small Gate, which has survived to our times.
The history of the Yedikule fortress begins from the moment when the conquerors managed to break through to the city through the Golden Gate. The sultans decided to build not walls, but a real fortress. In just a few years, this decision became a reality, and a fortress was built, which had seven towers and a large courtyard. Out of superstition, the Golden Gate was bricked up.
The city wall was built during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II. The thickness of the inner walls is 5 m, a defensive tower was built in the wall every 50 m. On the outer wall, 2 m thick, there were 96 towers. Almost the entire inner wall has survived to our time, but the outer wall collapsed almost completely. Translated from Turkish "Yedikule" means Seven Towers. Four towers were built by the Byzantines, and three (inner) towers were built by Muslims. In one of the towers, the dark and gloomy casemates survived, in which the captives of the sultans were kept. On the walls, you can still see inscriptions made in Greek, Turkish, Arabic. One of the towers served as an execution site. Today, it houses the Museum of Torture, which presents various instruments for torture, which are much more terrible than the instruments of the Inquisition. Another tower was intended for storing the treasury. This tower was a well with a height of more than 300 meters and a diameter of 20 meters. So this very tower was filled to the brim with precious stones and gold. A staircase in the wall leads to the walls of the fortress, along which you can walk through several towers and reach the Belgrade Gate or Silivri Gate.
In the 19th century, the Yedikule fortress turned into a warehouse for provisions, for some time it even had a zoo. At the end of the 60s, the Yedikule fortress became a museum. In the courtyard of the Yedikule Museum, festivals, concerts, and fashion shows are held. An interesting fact is that during the concert, a certain level of noise must be observed. This ban was introduced in order to prevent the destruction of the ancient masonry of the castle.
