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Bright Sun
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Istanbul's
fearsome Fortress
of the Seven Towers (Yedikule) was
where the ambassadors of foreign
powers that had displeased the Ottoman sultan awaited their fate (often
in privation), and where at least
one Ottoman prince awaited—and
met—his
death.
It was not always so. This great pile
of stones was first built as the Golden
Gate in the times of Byzantine Emperors
Theodosius I and Theodosius II (408-450).
The twin square towers of the Golden
Gate are now just two of the seven
towers of Yedikule.
The Golden Gate was the monumental
and ceremonial entrance to the city
as one came along the Roman road from
Europe, with four
massive towers built into
Theodosius II's mighty land
walls. Its gigantic
doors were indeed once covered
in gold.
After he conquered Constantinople
in 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror added
three towers to make it a fortress,
which he used as a treasury and prison as well.
Yedikule is in the land
walls near
the Sea
of Marmara shore. The land
walls, by the way, extend for 6.5 km
(4 miles) northward to Ayvansaray (near
Eyüp) on the Golden
Horn.
Perhaps the easiest, and certainly
the cheapest, way to go to Yedikule is
to take a suburban
train (Banliyö Treni) from
Sirkeci
Station toward Halkali
(they run every few minutes).
Get out at Yedikule,
turn left out of the station, and walk
400 meters to the fortress.
You can also get here on good
half-day Istanbul city tours operated
by Turista Tourism and
Backpackers Travel. More...
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Above, one
of the seven towers.
Left, Byzantine Golden
Gate in the city
walls.
Below, dungeon tower prison
for foreign diplomats.
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