Rumeli Hisari is an oasis of tranquility in the bustling city of Istanbul. You step inside the walls (3 feet deep) and you’re immediately transported out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Of course if you look down you can see all the traffic along the Bosphorus and if you look up you can watch the steady stream of cars crossing the second bridge (referred to as such because it was the second bridge built to transfer vehicles across the Bosphorus) – but inside it’s the wind, trees, rocks and sun which overwhelm. Built in four short months in 1452 this fort is at the narrowest point on the Bosphorus. It is directly across from another fort on the Asian side, and some stories say that there was a competition to see which fort would be completed first. I don’t actually know if it is true or which side won, but I can attest to the fact that the European fortress is a solid rock construction that doesn’t seem as if it will be going anywhere anytime soon (even if it was built in only four months). One of the great things about visiting sites in foreign countries is that seldom are they as safety conscious as the US. Today that meant I got to clamber up and down narrow stairways, walk along the top of the fortress walls (admiring the amazing view of the Bosphorus the entire time), skirt deep holes in the towers and really just explore anywhere I could discover a path. It’s a great mini-escape from the craziness Istanbul sometimes contains.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Rumeli Hisari
Rumeli Hisari is an oasis of tranquility in the bustling city of Istanbul. You step inside the walls (3 feet deep) and you’re immediately transported out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Of course if you look down you can see all the traffic along the Bosphorus and if you look up you can watch the steady stream of cars crossing the second bridge (referred to as such because it was the second bridge built to transfer vehicles across the Bosphorus) – but inside it’s the wind, trees, rocks and sun which overwhelm. Built in four short months in 1452 this fort is at the narrowest point on the Bosphorus. It is directly across from another fort on the Asian side, and some stories say that there was a competition to see which fort would be completed first. I don’t actually know if it is true or which side won, but I can attest to the fact that the European fortress is a solid rock construction that doesn’t seem as if it will be going anywhere anytime soon (even if it was built in only four months). One of the great things about visiting sites in foreign countries is that seldom are they as safety conscious as the US. Today that meant I got to clamber up and down narrow stairways, walk along the top of the fortress walls (admiring the amazing view of the Bosphorus the entire time), skirt deep holes in the towers and really just explore anywhere I could discover a path. It’s a great mini-escape from the craziness Istanbul sometimes contains.
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