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TOURING ET AUTOMOBILE CLUB DE TURQUIE
R u m e li H isa rı
Tâıuiri biten Rumeli Hisarı
Le Château de Rumeli Hisarı sur le Bosphore après les travaux de restauration
A deed aim ing w e ll w hich w a s recently accom plished by the Turkish G o vernm ent is the restoration o f the im posing fortresses o f Rumeli H isari on the Bosphorus.
For centuries opposing arm ies, either in pursuit of one another or m erely in trave lin g back and forth from Europe to A s ia , h ave crossed the Bosphorus at this, the n arro w est point o f the fam ous Strait. From Herodotus, w e know that D arius, the King o f the P er sian s, bridged the Bosphorus at this point in 513 B .C . to e n a b le his arm y o f 7 0 0 ,0 0 0 men to march ag ain st the Scythian s. For this task, he em ployed the G re e k architect-eng in eer, M an dro cleus, an isla n d er from S a mos.
This passag e w as rep eated 1141 ye a rs la te r, in 628 A .D . w hen H e ra d io u s, the B yzantin e Em peror, returned victoriou sly from P ersia. At that time the B yza n tin e Em pire w as at the peak o f its glo ry.
A third mass p assa g e w as m ade in 10 49 by the G o th crusaders on their w a y from Europe to the H oly
Lands. •
By the beginning o f the 15th century, the B y za n tin e Em pire, p a rtly due to foreign invasions from several fronts and p a rtly due to in terior disputes, had a lre a d y w e a ke n e d . The Turks in 13 5 9 A .D . had co n
quered B ursa, w hich they m ade their c a p ita l. The B y za n tin e Em peror, C a n ta c u za n e , gave O rh an I his daug h ter, T h e o d o ra , fo r a w ife so as to keep on good terms with him. O rh an crossed the D a rd a n e lle s to join with the B yzantin es in the fight ag ain st the Serbians and B u lg a rian s. Thus the Turks o btained lan d west of B yza n ce , too. They had a lso occupied Mt. A ido s and the fortress o f S a m a n d ra , an isla n d about three hours’ distant from Scutari.
A fter O rh a n ’s d e ath , M urat I beseiged A d ria- nople, but w as assassin ate d during his cam paig n in S e rb ia . B eyazit I conquered m any territories one after an o th e r. He dethroned the B yzan tin e Em peror John I, and enthroned A ndronicus IV . He also built the fortress o f A n ad o lu H isar, thus preparing the w a y fo r the siege of C o n stan tin o p le. Mehmet I, his successor, kept on good terms w ith the B yzantin es so as to reo rganize his country w h ile he fought the V en etians by sea. M urad II besieged C o n stan tin o p le w ithout success. It w a s Mehmet II w ho w a s to succeed in this a c h ie v e ment.
In 1452 he set about building the w a lls o f Rumeli H isa ri, declaring to the B yzantines that this measure w a s taken a g ain st the V en etians w hose ships w ere passing through the Bosphorus w ithout p ayin g the
necessary to lls. The Byzantines sent em bassies to Mehmet II to persuade him to give up his p lan , but he continued the construction o f the fortress, which stands to this d a y .
He put a ll his resources into it. O ne thouscnd masons and one thousand stone-carriers went to w ork under the personal supervision o f Mehmet him self. M any a w o ik e r died, but in three months the w a lls w ere Completed. The fortress is built in the form of a trian g le and it is said that its course spells the word Mehmet in A ra b ic.
In the construction, m aterials from the church « T a x ia rc h a i» o f A n ap lo us (n o w A rn a vu tk ö y ) w as used. Debris o f B yza n tin e columns, cap itals o f a rc h i traves can be seen to d a y on the w a lls.
The shape w a s suggested by Mehmet him self. There are three big h eavy tow ers, one at each corner and other sm all, squdreshaped ones. A ll the in h a b i tants of the A sia tic coast contributed to the w o rk , by furnishing Mehmet II with construction m aterials.
The fortress w as fin a lly built and Mehmet a p pointed as governor Fîruz A ğ a . Big cannons w ere em p laced to prevent the p assag e o f enemy vessels past this n arro w spot called by the Turks «B o ğ az K ese n ».
W ith the restoration of this fam ous monument, Ru meli H isa ri, has, doubtless, become one o f the most im portant tourist attractions o f the country.
Basil A. PHOTIADES
Kişisel Arşivlerde Istanbul Belleği Taha Toros Arşivi
