Babakale Castle

Babakale Castle (Turkish: Babakale Kalesi, Ottoman Turkish: Hırzü’l-Bahr) is an 18th-century fortification at Babakale, Ayvacık, the westernmost point of mainland Turkey. It was built during the Ottoman era.

Babakale Castle is situated on a hill at Cape Baba, the westernmost point of mainland Turkey, in Babakale, Ayvacık in Çanakkale Province. The castle takes its name from the cape. The castle was built to protect the location from pirates. According to the inscription found above the main gate, it was constructed during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III by Kapudan Pasha (Grand admiral) Kaymak Mustafa Pasha between AH 1135–1141 (1722–1729 CE). Inside the castle, there was a mosque, a hamam (bathhouse), a fountain and some other buildings, which were constructed at the same time.

The castle and the adjacent port were important for the anchorage and supply of the Ottoman Navy. The fountain, for which water was brought from 5 km (3.1 mi) away, supplied water for the naval fleet before it set sail on campaigns.

The castle has a rectangular plan with dimensions of approx. 38 m × 76 m (125 ft × 249 ft) having a watchtower on each corner. It is oriented northwest to southeast with the seashore to the southwest. The watchtowers on the landward side have a hexagonal prism form while the watchtowers overlooking the sea are much larger and are in the form of pentagonal prisms. The main gate, which has a marble inscription above it, is situated in the middle of the north-eastern curtain wall. An L-shaped pincer gate in a covered structure behind the pointed arch gate leads to the castle's interior courtyard. The pincer gate features one large barrel vaulted niche at each side and above where guards would have been located.

The gate opens to the castle's interior through a wide, tall, semi-circular arched portal. A finial relief is found on the keystone of the inner portal. A small additional hidden opening is situated next to the watchtower on the south-eastern curtain wall. The battlements are reached by a ramp in the southern corner. Access to the four watchtowers is through the battlements. The embrasures between the merlons of the watchtower battlements were constructed at an angle that widens outwards making it suitable for firing cannons.

Text adapted from “Babakale Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Babakale Castle ranks #7,340 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #115 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded c. 1750, it is older than 17% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 556 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗