Byzantıne Perıod

The area we call Yedikule today was called “Heptapyrgion” in the Byzantine Period. The foundations of Yedikule Fortress were laid for the first time during the period of the Eastern Roman Empire. Teodoios II (408-450) had the city walls built, most of which still exist today. Along with the increasing attacks in the Byzantine Period, the walls formed a three-stage defense architecture, with an added level and a second level with a ditch in front of it. Although the purpose was to prevent attacks, the boundaries of the region we call Yedikule were also determined by the construction of this city wall.

Over time, magnificent gates were added to these walls. The most famous of these gates is the Golden Gate, which is a triumphal arch. The Mese, main street of Constantinople, started from Sultanahmet Square and split into two around Esekapı. This separated street had a ceremonial value and merged with the Via Egnatia, an intercity road from Thrace. At the junction of these two important roads, the Golden Gate, formerly named as Porta Auera, was located. The Byzantine emperors both held their coronation ceremonies and also held ceremonies here when they returned with victory after the campaigns.

History of Yedikule, full of legendary events, dates back to the Byzantine Period. Already, the reason why Yedikule is so famous and interesting is because of the mystery it contains and its legends, which are exaggerated into stories that have been passed down through the generations. Many of the legends and rumors spreading to the city are due to The Marble Tower, which has not reached the present day in its original form. Built right next to the Theodosian Walls and known to have four floors, this tower was used as an execution tower and a prison during the Byzantine Period.

The famous traveler Reinhold Lubenau tells us one of the most interesting legends of Yedikule. Traveler Lubenau, who came to visit the Ottoman lands in the 16th century, narrates that Emperor Emanuel had a seaside palace built on the site of today’s Yedikule. The traveler obtained this information from the manuscript called Itinerarium.

Rumour has it that Emperor Emanuel had the walls and pillars of this seaside palace covered with gold and silver and decorated with pearls and precious stones. The Emperor had one of the inner rooms of the palace made entirely of gold and covered its walls with jewels. So much so that there was no need to turn on a light in this room, even at night. The room was always bright because of the jewels.

And the emperor built a crown room in this palace. According to what Lubenau wrote in his travelogue, the emperor placed a crown adorned with jewels inside this room. The jewels on this crown were made of precious stones that are not found in the treasury of any ruler on earth.

The legends about Yedikule, which once circulated on the streets of Constantinople, had such a broad repercussion that it didn’t take long for these intriguing events to appear in the notebooks of travelers and wanderers. Thanks to the travelers, the legends circulating from language to language, from city to city, have survived to the present day, over the centuries.

The legendary jewels of the emperors and the rooms covered with precious metals still preserve their mystery. Unfortunately, it is not possible to find traces of the coastal palace, which may have been destroyed in the fires and earthquakes in Istanbul. The coastal palace, according to rumors, seems to have taken its place in the mysterious page of history by closing the legends in its glazed rooms.