- LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STRUCTURE
Yedikule Fortress is located in the south of Istanbul’s land walls and in the district named after him, in the Imrahor İlyas Bey Neighborhood. The building is located on section 327, block 1265, plot 18. The structure with the Byzantine period land walls and the Golden Gate, one of its most important gates, as well as the tower and ramparts built during the Ottoman period, is one of the most magnificent monuments of the city’s multi-layered, multi-cultural common cultural heritage.
Information about the construction of the building is scarcely mentioned in the sources of the period. However, much information is available in sources such as later sources and travelogues. The political conditions under which the fortress was built and the purpose has been a subject of interest since the day it was built. The builder of the fortress, Sultan Mehmet, ascended the throne for the second time upon the death of his father on September 18, 1451.[1] Yedikule Fortress was built right after the conquest of Istanbul.
The fortress was built behind the Golden Gate, one of the most important gates of the land walls. This famous gate of the land walls, which was built by Theodosios II between 413 and 439, was dedicated to the entrances of the emperors with the victory processions. The gate consists of a triple entrance reminiscent of triumphal arches and two large pylons covered with marble on both sides. Over time, the entrances were covered to make the gates smaller. After the conquest, Mehmet the Conqueror (1451-1481) repaired the walls destroyed in the siege, using the two pylons of the Golden Gate and the two Byzantine towers in the same row, and he added a wall with three towers to these four bastions and built a pentagon-shaped fortress with seven towers in 1457-1458. The fortress and the surrounding district within the walls have been named after these seven towers.
- RESTORATION WORKS IN REPUBLICAN PERIOD
A comprehensive restoration work was carried out on the building, which was affiliated to the General Directorate of Museums as of the 19th century, between 1958 and 1970 under the leadership of Architect Cahide Tamer. Meanwhile, the building was vested to the responsibility of the Istanbul Fortresses Museums Directorate after 1968. It was leased by a private company in 2004 to be used as a concert venue. Within the scope of the functional works, gravel was poured on the floor and the stage platform was set up.
Repairs made by Master Architect Cahide Tamer between 1958 and 1970 were recorded with the reports prepared by the architect himself, and reached today by documenting with photographs (Picture 1-9). The architect has carried out many repairs aimed at solving structural problems throughout the ensemble of buildings.
[1] Franz Babinger, Fatih Sultan Mehmet ve Zamanı, İstanbul 2003, Mevlana Mehmed Neşri, Cihânnümâ (Osmanlı Tarihi 1288 – 1485), İstanbul 2008, page 309, İbn Kemal, Tevârih-i Âli Osman, VII. Defter, Ankara 1957, page 33.
