CASTLE OF THE SEVEN TOWERS (YEDIKULE HISARI)

At the origin of the site was a Roman triumphal arch erected in 388, called the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea), integrated into the Byzantine ramparts when they were built. It is reported that after the sad episode of the Latin occupation (1204-1261), during which the city suffered greatly from looting, Emperor Michel VIII Paleologos (1261-1282) came through this door and made a triumphal entry in a liberated but tested city… A sore that never lasted until Turks find a frazzled and impoverished Byzantium. A Byzantine fortress reinforced with five towers is installed later, with two new towers added in the middle of the th century, the whole taking the name Heptapyrghion, which will be translated by Yedikule ("seven towers"). Mehmed II the Conqueror reports to the castle and adds new walls in 1457-1458. The treasure is even protected before being transferred to the palace of Topkapı. Then let us start with events that make the scene of the scene the place: imprisoned, executions… The last emperor in the kingdom of the Bridge will find death (1463). In the th and th centuries, the legend of the castle reached its climax because, among these tragedies, there were senseless cases, such as Sultan Osman II (1618-1622), which the history would bear under the name Osman the Young. It comes to the throne at 14 years old, but it shows an incredible reformer. In front of him, his opponents capture him by janissaries, bring to the tower where he is strangled… at 18. Intrusive languages even speak of rape before murder. His vizier Davud Paşa knows the same fate. Other unfortunate, the Ambassador of France The Hague-Vantelet was embastillé for five months, from October 1660 to February 1661. We do not know if their minds are haunting the places, but the walls speak for themselves: you can see many inscriptions, souvenirs of their temporary or final stay. And yet the place has charm, which was not escaped by Lord Byron who wrote: " I have never looked at the nature or art that gave me such a strong impression as the panorama of both Tours. " Restored between 1962 and 1968, the walls of the fortress have the shape of an dotted star. Some search rooms are set in the garden, such as stone shells, marble columns and terracotta jars. In the centre, the'sanguinaire ', we were allowed to have cut heads.