Ankara Castle is a historical castle located in Ankara's Altındağ district. It is not known exactly when it was built, but BC. It is known that the castle existed when the Galatians settled in Ankara at the beginning of the 5th century. It has been repaired many times during the Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk Dynasty and Ottomans. Ankara Castle is bigger than it looks from the outside. It also hosts various festivals every year.
Ankara Castle History
The castle has lived through various periods in history. After the Roman occupation of Galatia at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the city grew and overflowed the castle. Roman Emperor Caracalla repaired the walls of the castle in 217 BC. Between 222 and 260 BC, the castle was partially destroyed when Emperor Alexander Severus was defeated by the Persians. After the 7nd half of the 2th century, the Romans began to repair the castle. During the Byzantine period, Emperor II. Justinian had the outer castle built in 668 AD, Emperor III. While repairing the castle walls, Leon raised the inner castle walls in 740. After that, Emperor Nikephoros I repaired this castle in 805 and Emperor Basil I in 869. The castle passed into the hands of the Seljuk Dynasty in 1073. Captured by the Crusaders in 1101, the castle was again under the rule of the Seljuk Dynasty in 1227. Alaeddin Keykubad I had the castle repaired again, and in 1249 II. Izzeddin Keykavus made new additions to the castle. During the Ottoman period, it was repaired by Kavalalı İbrahim Pasha in 1832, and the outer walls of the castle were expanded.
Ankara Castle Architecture
The height of the castle from the ground is 110 m. It consists of the inner castle covering the high part of the hill and the outer castle surrounding it. The outer castle has about 20 towers. The outer castle surrounds the old city of Ankara. The inner castle covers an area of approximately 43.000 m². There are 14 towers, most of them with 16 corners, on the 5-42 m high walls. The outer walls are approximately 350 m in north-south direction and 180 m in west-east direction. stretches across. The south and west walls of the inner castle form a right angle. The eastern wall follows the indentations of the hill. The northern slope is protected by walls made with different techniques. The most interesting aspect of the protection order; It is 15 pentagonal bastions located every 20-42 m along the east, west and south walls. The outer castle and the inner castle meet at Doğukalesi in the east and on the slope facing the Hatip Stream in the west. Akkale, the highest point of the castle, is located in the southeast corner of the inner castle. The inner castle, which has four floors, was made of Ankara stone and collected stones. The inner castle has two large gates. One is called the outer gate and the other is called the fortress gate. There is also an inscription belonging to the Ilkhanate on the door. In the northwest part, there is an inscription showing that it was built by the Seljuk Dynasty. The lower part of the walls is made of marble and basalt, although the brick sections between the blocks towards the upper parts are largely damaged, the inner castle has survived to the present day. When the city was invaded in the 8th and 9th centuries, the marble blocks of the Roman monuments, column capitals, and the marble gutters of the waterways were used to repair the castle quickly. Sculptures, sarcophagi and column capitals found in the castle indicate that the materials found around were used in the construction and repair of the castle.