Rumeli Hisar
The Rumeli Hisar, which means the "European castle" was built by the Ottoman
conqueror of Constantinople, Mehmet
II. Together with its "partner" fortress on the eastern Asiatic side of the
Bosphorus, Anadolu Hisar, (built, incidentally, by Mehmet's great-grandfather),
they controlled all maritime movement along the channel. The Rumeli Hisar took
an unbelievable nineteen and a half weeks to build. Basically it still stands
today, as it did then, its walls and towers virtually intact, along the western
shores of the Bosphorus, well within today's city limits of modern Istanbul.
This view looks north towards the Black Sea - about 15-20 kms away.
