The Rumeli Hisar, which means the "European castle" was built by the Ottoman conqueror of Constantinople, Mehmet II. Together with its "partner" fortress on the eastern Asiatic side of the Bosphorus, Anadolu Hisar, (built, incidentally, by Mehmet's great-grandfather), they controlled all maritime movement along the channel. The Rumeli Hisar took an unbelievable nineteen and a half weeks to build. Basically it still stands today, as it did then, its walls and towers virtually intact, along the western shores of Bosphorus, well within today's city limits of modern Istanbul.
This view looks north towards the Black Sea - about 15-20 kms away.
