heritageliterary

Rumelihisarı and Aşiyan: the fortress and the poet's hill

Mehmed II's 1452 siege fortress at the water, the Ottoman poet's hilltop house and writers' cemetery above it.

Photo: flowcomm / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3 km

Time

~ 75 min

Difficulty

Moderate

Start

Rumelihisarı (bus 22)

End

Aşiyan (bus 22)

Best at

afternoon

Right now

23°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Rumelihisarı is the fortress Mehmed II built in 1452 to seal the Bosphorus and starve out Constantinople before the siege. Three towers, walls thirty feet thick, the whole thing thrown up in months and obsolete a year later when the city fell. Above it, on the ridge where the climb gets serious, the Ottoman poet Tevfik Fikret built his house and is now buried there with most of the twentieth century's other writers.

Three kilometres, with one steep climb in the middle. The 22 bus drops you at the fortress gates. Walk the curtain wall first — the three towers are named for the viziers who built each, and the four-month construction is one of the conquest's better-told stories. Then the climb. Yahya Kemal Caddesi goes straight up; pace yourself.

Aşiyan Müzesi is Tevfik Fikret's actual house, finished in 1906. The terrace looks back down on the fortress you've just walked. The cemetery is two minutes along the ridge — Tevfik Fikret, Orhan Veli, Nazım Hikmet's cenotaph, Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı. Walk back down to the sahil; the same bus runs both ways.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 124 m·↓ 97 m·1–119 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Rumelihisarı bus stop
The 22 from Kabataş drops you at the sahil opposite the fortress gates. Some 25E buses also stop here. Boğaziçi University's lower entrances are five minutes' walk south if you want a campus loop before starting.
01
Rumelihisarı bus stop
The 22 from Kabataş drops you at the sahil opposite the fortress gates. Some 25E buses also stop here. Boğaziçi University's lower entrances are five minutes' walk south if you want a campus loop before starting.
02
2
Rumelihisarı
Mehmed II's 1452 fortress, raised in four months by tradition (longer in practice) to seal the Bosphorus before the siege. Three towers, each named for the vizier who oversaw its construction — Halil Paşa, Saruca Paşa, Zağanos Paşa. Now an open-air museum; the ramparts walk is the visit, the amphitheatre is a summer concert venue. Closed Mondays.
02
Rumelihisarı
Mehmed II's 1452 fortress, raised in four months by tradition (longer in practice) to seal the Bosphorus before the siege. Three towers, each named for the vizier who oversaw its construction — Halil Paşa, Saruca Paşa, Zağanos Paşa. Now an open-air museum; the ramparts walk is the visit, the amphitheatre is a summer concert venue. Closed Mondays.
03
3
Yahya Kemal Caddesi
The street that climbs from the sahil up to Aşiyan. Sixty metres of rise in five minutes; the hard part of the walk. Pace yourself and look back at the Bosphorus widening below each minute.
03
Yahya Kemal Caddesi
The street that climbs from the sahil up to Aşiyan. Sixty metres of rise in five minutes; the hard part of the walk. Pace yourself and look back at the Bosphorus widening below each minute.
04
4
Aşiyan Müzesi
Tevfik Fikret's house, finished in 1906 to his own design. Aşiyan means nest in Persian. Two storeys, modest, more about its position than its scale. The terrace looks down on the fortress you've just walked. Closed Mondays.
04
Aşiyan Müzesi
Tevfik Fikret's house, finished in 1906 to his own design. Aşiyan means nest in Persian. Two storeys, modest, more about its position than its scale. The terrace looks down on the fortress you've just walked. Closed Mondays.
05
5
Aşiyan Cemetery
A small terraced graveyard a few minutes along the ridge. Tevfik Fikret is buried here; so are Orhan Veli Kanık and Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı. Nazım Hikmet has a cenotaph — his actual grave is in Moscow. Read the carved Ottoman script even if you can't.
05
Aşiyan Cemetery
A small terraced graveyard a few minutes along the ridge. Tevfik Fikret is buried here; so are Orhan Veli Kanık and Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı. Nazım Hikmet has a cenotaph — his actual grave is in Moscow. Read the carved Ottoman script even if you can't.
06
6
Aşiyan bus stop
Back down to the sahil at the Aşiyan stop. The 22 bus runs back to Kabataş; the 25E heads north toward Sarıyer if you want to extend the day with a fish lunch up the strait.
06
Aşiyan bus stop
Back down to the sahil at the Aşiyan stop. The 22 bus runs back to Kabataş; the 25E heads north toward Sarıyer if you want to extend the day with a fish lunch up the strait.

Rumelihisarı and Aşiyan: the fortress and the poet's hill

On the map.

Things to notice.

Rumelihisarı bus stop

Rumelihisarı bus stop

Rumelihisarı

Rumelihisarı

Yahya Kemal Caddesi

Yahya Kemal Caddesi

Aşiyan Müzesi

Aşiyan Müzesi

Aşiyan Cemetery

Aşiyan Cemetery

Aşiyan bus stop

Aşiyan bus stop

Two more, on similar days.

Anadolu Hisarı and Göksu: the older, smaller fortress

Bebek to Arnavutköy: the yalı sahil