(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) (Photo feature)
by Taha Ouda
ISTANBUL, May 17 (KUNA) -- Hardly can a visitor of Istanbul miss the impressive Roumeli Hissar Castle, admiring greatness and unique beauty of such historical site.
It is one of the most magnificent sites and tourist attractions in Istanbul, if not in the entire of Turkey, located in the Sariyer district of the city, on a hill over the European side of the Bosphorus. It literary means "the Strait-Cutter Castle." Walls of the castle are 20-25 feet wide, while those of the lead-crowned towers are 32-35 feet.
The outer curtain walls of the fortress are from north to south 250 meter long and from east to west varying between 50 and 125 meters long. Its total area is 31,250 square meters.
Roumeli Hissar, designed by architect Muslihiddin, has three towers; two of them were built to control sea traffic on the Bosphorus Strait.
Over the centuries, the fortress turned into a prison used by the Janissaries (the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and bodyguards), and was also closed for a long time. (end) yta.msa