Istanbul City Walls  

Walls

Istanbul City Walls, totalling to 22 km, are over three separate regions. Marmara Walls on the Marmara Sea coastline and Haliç Walls along the Haliç (Golden Horn) coast line and the Land Walls a larger portion of which falls within the Zeytinburnu District.

The 5420 meters long Land Walls with its 123 towers begin from the Mermer (Marble) Tower on th seaside proceed towards Haliç (Golden Horn) near Edirnekapı.  The land walls consist of two rows, one in and one out, with a deep ditch in between.
There are 36 gates, some small and some large, on the walls which give passage in and out.  Six of the most important gates of them all fall within Zeytinburnu District; Altın Kapı (Golden gate) also called Yaldızlı Kapı (Gilded Gate), Yedikule Kapı, Belgrad Kapı, Silivri Kapı, Mevlana Kapı also called Mevlevihane Kapısı and Topkapı.

These walls that make a magnificent defence system both with their length and with their properties, could be broken through only for two times in the history.  Having been the target to countless attacks, and after Orthodox Byzantium being invaded in 1204 by the Catholic Latins, these walls gave surrender in 1453 to the armies of Sultan Mehmet II, The Conqueror.

Emperors'  Prestige
The Land Walls were first built in 413 AD during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II.  They were damaged for so many times in the past because of earthquakes and wars but every time were repaired afterwards.  All the emperors paid due attention onto them, not only as a defence tool have they been seen but also as a reason of prestige.  They have always been kept in good condition even during the Ottoman Empire time in spite of the fact that they had lost their defensive importance for having remained this time within the boundaries of the empire.  Nevertheless they were left on their own during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.
A large portion and quite a many towers were ruined down at a violent earthquake in 447.  They were speedily repaired because of Atilla Khan fear who was storming across Europe in those days.  The walls experienced several other major damages for the severe earthquakes in 740 and in 1509.  Emperor Leon III. Imposed new taxes in 740 to finance the repair works.  And in 1509, repair works took one year with eight thousand workers.

Most  Important  Altın  Kapı  (Golden  Gate)
On the sea walls there is an interesting tower; Mermer (Marble ) Tower.  About a kilometre inside this tower is the most important gate of the walls; Port Aurea (Golden Gate - Altın Kapı).  Altın Kapı has another monumental property besides its being the starting point of Istanbul-to-Rome-Road called Via Egnetia.  This gate has been the entrance into the city following Emperor Theodosius I. had a victory arch erected here.  Emperors started to enter the city by passing from under this arch at this entrance when they returned from victorious wars.
Emperor Theodosius II. Had two towers erected on either side of the arch to connect them to the Land Walls.  They called this gate "Yaldızlı Kapı" (Gilded Gate) because the arch and its front face were decorated with golden gildings, with gilded bronze inscriptions and statues.

Yedikule  Towers  (Seven Towers)
Sultan Mehmet II. The Conqueror had three more towers erected here, so the towers here totalled to seven.  This part so has taken a five star shape and gained a fortress appearance.  That is why this castle is called Yedikule since then.
One of the towers here was used by the Byzantines as jailhouse.  Ottomans used this place as the state treasury but after Murat III (1574-1595) this place started to serve the empire as a jail.  To this jail came prisoners like vezirs, pashas, rebelled palace people as well as the arrested ambassadors of those countries the empire was in a war.  So this jail gained a certain fame.  The young and reformist Sultan Genç (Young) Osman of the Ottoman Empire history was executed in this place by the Janissary.
Following a very successful restoration work carried by Cahide Tamer in 1959 this place turned to be a museum.

Other  Notable  Gates
Sultan Suleiman The Magnificent (The Lawmaker) has caused some people to migrate over here in 1512 after the Belgrade war.  The area they were settled took its name as Belgrad and the gate there started to be named as Belgrad Kapı.
After this gate comes the Silivri Kapı.  For some time it was named as Mukaddes Kaynak Kapısı (Sacred Fountain Gate) for the Balıklı Ayazma very near to it.  After this gate is the Mevlana Kapı that is so named because of the mevlevihane there.
The farther we go in we see another gate; Topkapı.  It is an important gate for Turkey's history. The densest fights of the Istanbul siege that ended on 29 May 1453 took place over here, and Ulubatlı Hasan (Hasan of Ulubat) had erected the victory banner on the walls here.  Topkapı was restored in 1950.
The walls that are taken by UNESCO in 1980's on the "World Heritage of Architecture " list, were given a not so successful restoration between 1987-1994.  It is planned to begin with the Land Walls in the restoration framework of all the Istanbul walls to give them an open air museum identity with an aim to turning them into tourist sites.