Di, Gert and their Turkish friend, Yakup, took me up to visit this fortress high on a hill above the Bosphorus Strait after we had photographed sunrise on the Asian-side of Istanbul.
Can you see the Europe to Asia bridge in the distance? I talk of it in the next post.
This fortress was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, that's 557 years ago. It's a beautiful ruin, with tall grass and wildflowers and it only cost two dollars to visit.
We climbed up onto the walls inside and sat in the sun for a long time, watching the huge ships, small fishing boats, jet boats and all kinds of other boats pass by on the water.
Can you imagine, this huge fortress was built in a big hurry and they finished it in 4 months and 16 days on 31 August 1452!! The bad news, the sultan was building it so that he could take over Constantinople and rename it Istanbul.
These days, Rumelihisarı (as the Turkish people call it) is a museum and an amazing open-air theater for various concerts during the summer.
Incredible!!
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