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Anadoluhisarı (Anatolian Fortress) is a medieval Ottoman fortress located in Istanbul on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The complex is the oldest surviving Turkish architectural structure built in Istanbul, and further gives its name to the neighborhood around it in the city's Beykoz district.
Anadoluhisarı was built between 1393 and 1394 on the commission of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, as part of his preparations for a siege of the then-Byzantine city of Constantinople.
Constructed on an area of 7,000 square metres, the fortress is situated at the narrowmost point of the Bosporus. Erected primarily as a watch fort, the citadel has a 25 meters tall, quadratic main tower within the walls of an irregular pentagon, with five watchtowers at the corners.
Constantinople was blockaded from 1394 on, but Bayezid's campaign was first interrupted by the Crusade of Nicopolis, and then ended with his defeat at the Battle of Ankara. An 11-year civil war followed, which ended with the ascent of Mehmed I to the throne. His grandson, Sultan Mehmed II reinforced the fortress with a two-meter-thick wall and three additional watchtowers, and added further extensions, including a warehouse and living quarters. As part of his plans to launch a renewed military campaign to conquer Constantinople, Mehmed II further built a sister structure to Anadoluhisarı across the Bosphorus called Rumelihisarı. The two fortresses worked in tandem in 1453 to throttle all maritime traffic along the Bosphorus, thus helping the Ottomans achieve their goal of making the city of Constantinople (later renamed Istanbul) their new imperial capital.
After the Ottoman conquest of the city, Anadoluhisarı served as a customs house and military prison, and after several centuries, fell into disrepair.
After the fall of the Ottomans and the 1923 establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the newly created Turkish Ministry of Culture tended to and ultimately restored the site in 1991–1993. Today, Anadoluhisarı lends a picturesque appearance to its corner of the Bosphorus alongside the timber yalı homes that define the neighborhood, and functions as a historical site, although it is not open to the public. The latest restoration was conducted by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality which started in 2021.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.