The Turkish fortress, built 565 years ago, has survived to this day so well that it gives a complete picture of the fortification art of the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Having become a bridgehead on the European coast of the Bosphorus, Rumeli-hisar formed a system of fortifications that controlled navigation along the Bosphorus with the Anadolu-hisar fortress located opposite (“Fortress on the Anatolian coast”, built in 1394).
Rumeli-Hisar was built by order of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror less than a year before the capture of Constantinople by the Turks: in April - August 1452. Someone Muslikhuddin Agha is considered its architect, although there is no reliable information about this. The general supervision of the construction was entrusted to the Grand Vizier Chandarla Khalil Pasha, and behind the main towers - to the viziers Sarudzhe Pasha and Zaganos Mehmed Pasha. It is noteworthy that the last May 30, 1453, that is, after the capture of Constantinople, himself became the Grand Vizier. All this speaks of the importance that the Sultan attached to the fortress under construction. And the sultan himself was keenly interested in this object, since he understood that the success of the planned assault on the capital of the Byzantine Empire, planned for next year, could depend on him.
The fortress includes walls 5–15 m high and 5 passable towers reaching a height of 33 m, as well as 15 small towers that reinforced the walls. The thickness of the walls reaches 9 m. The area of the fortress is three hectares, which made it possible to concentrate in it the forces necessary for the operational transfer to cover or reinforce the assault detachments from land.
At first the fortress was called “Boğazkesen”, which can be translated as “Cutting the Strait” and “Cutting the Throat”.
Today, Rumeli-Hisar is a wonderful open-air museum with an observation deck that offers a magnificent view of the Bosphorus and its opposite (Asian) coast. On the territory of the fortress, you can also get acquainted with samples of Turkish artillery pieces of the 17th – 19th centuries, which undoubtedly have historical and artistic value.
