500+ year old fortress

Rumeli Fortress, with the proud flag flying high amidst the autumn foliage

What to do on a perfect autumn day in Istanbul?  Get out and explore more of the city, with Tuesday's mission to check out the Rumeli Fortress on the narrowest place on the Bosphorus.  Each week, I've been exploring new parts of Istanbul, from the city itself with the small alleyways to villages along the Bosphorus.  This city never stops.  You can travel 1-2 hours by bus/ferry and still be in the city.

Anyway, with a ferry across to Europe and then a bus ride that took me further up the Bosphorus, I arrived at the fortress on the wrong side and walked 345 degrees around it before finding the entrance.  But that allowed me to explore a cemetery, see saw amazing, colourful houses and soak up more sunshine.  Plus the views of the Bosphorus were always good.

The Rumeli fortress is over 500 years old and is still in pretty good shape.  When built in the 1400s, the pamphlet bragged that they built it in just 4 months.  Judging from my grasp of history and visiting places around the world, that seems mighty fast for a stone fortress to be built.  But if correct, I applaud the fast working Turks.  They were doing this while Columbus was asking for money to go on a sail.

Maybe the best part of the fortress is its originality, in that they haven't changed much.  No guard rails, safety measures in effect.  Age old stone stairs going straight up 25 meters with a sheer drop?  50 meter drops straight down inside towers?  Yup, this fortress has it all.  Best watch your step! 

I spent a couple hours walking around, getting in a good stair workout with some quite large stairs all over.  And often going back down the same stairs to get to the next section of the tower, as well, that's how it was built.  Not always practical, but that was the style.  Good views all around, of the fortress, the Bosphorus, the mighty Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, passing freighters and more.  Plus the typical flock of seagulls everywhere, the true sign of the city ( might be because they get bread from people on every ferry).

Here are some pictures to relive the glory days of stone fortresses:

Panorama from the upper corner

Mustache!

Now that is a serious entranceway

Freighters cruising by

Stairs everywhere

Looks cool from the bottom looking up.  From up top, looking down, back away!  Or try to jump across like James Bond

Stairs going right up, no railing in sight