Kilitbahir Castle

Mehmet the Conqueror has built the Rumelian Castle overlooking the Bosphorus to control the sea trades between the Black Sea and Marmara Sea; he also built two castles overlooking each other at the narrowest point of the Dardanelles. On the Anatolian side there is Kal’a-i Sultaniye (Çimenlik Castle), and on the European side there is Kilitbahir Castle. All the ships have been stopped and controlled upon arriving at this point. To ensure the precision and effectiveness of the cannon shots, It is been built on the narrowest point of the Dardanelles. Since It is parallel to the Çimenlik castle, the cannon shots intersect and there was no blind point for a ship to go without getting hit by cannons which made the crossing the Dardanelles extremely hard. 

The castle which was built in 1462-63, has been restored by Suleyman the Magnificent in 1541 and during the restoration, a tower (Sarıkule) and a forticification wall surrounding the south side has been built. The castle has been restored a second time in 1870 by Sultan Abdulaziz. The original wall on the northern side couldn’t survive. The northern part of this section has been rebuilt by Abdulhamid II in 1893-1894. The southern walls are used as battlements. Recently, in 2011-2013 It is been restored again. In 2015 a merchandising project has started. 

From an aerial point of view, it resembles a cloverleaf and its name Kilid-ül Bahir means “the lock of the sea.” After the castle was built the Kilitbahir village has developed and many art pieces belonging to the Ottoman era can be found there. Some of these structures are Fatih Mosque, Cahidi Sultan Mosque, Tabip Hasan Mosque, Kırklar Mosque which is diminished and, Uşşaki Dergâhı (Ahmed Talibi Tekkesi), various fountains, traditional houses, relics of two Turkish baths and cemeteries around Cahidi Sultan Mosque.