Yedikule

A short glimpse
Originally uploaded by ccarlstead

Yesterday I went off an adventure. But then that’s what I call it any time I try to take a bus to someplace new, I only end up at my desired destination about 50% of the time – hence the adventure. Luckily yesterday was one of those times. I took a bus to Yedikule, which is a fort from 1457 that is still in remarkable good shape. As I was riding the bus I kept pondering the name Yedikule…partly to make sure that I knew where I wanted to get off the bus, partly to see if I could pronounce it correctly…then it hit me. Yedi kule. Yedi means seven, kule tower. I was going to a fort with seven towers. It all makes sense. It is the only “inland” fort that I know of – although you can still see the Marmara Sea from the top of the ramparts. It is inland in the sense that it was built into a section of the formidable city walls that surrounded the ancient city of Byzantine. It was lovely! Not in the least because it was almost empty (I think I only saw maybe five people the entire time I was there – including the guardian). After trudging up a long and steep staircase on the side of the walls (with nothing to keep one from falling off the edge!) I was able to explore the ramparts and towers to my heart’s content. Climbing up into the towers I followed dark turning stairwells that would suddenly expel me onto the top of the tower (a flashlight would have been nice). The views were stunning – along the city walls one way, over the Marmara Sea and the waiting ships another, over an overgrown old cemetery, and over a city neighborhood. I felt on top of the world being able to see so many different aspects of Istanbul that I usually am only down among.