Fatih Belediyesi Yedikule Hisarı
Medieval fortress incorporating a Byzantine triumphal arch, infamous as an Ottoman state prison.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Yedikule Hisari in Istanbul follows the fortress from its origins as Constantinople's ceremonial Golden Gate, through Mehmed the Second's decision to enclose rather than destroy it, to its later use holding the imperial treasury and then prisoners of state, from foreign ambassadors to deposed princes. It centers on seventeen-year-old Sultan Osman the Second, who tried to break the power of the Janissaries and instead found himself dragged into these dungeons on the night of May 20, 1622, fighting in the dark. Picture the arch of the old Golden Gate as you walk the fortress walls.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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