Turkey · 15th century
Kilitbahir Castle (Turkish: Kilitbahir Kalesi) is a fortress on the west side of the Dardanelles, opposite the city of Çanakkale, where there is a corresponding fortress (Kale-i Sultaniye), from which Çanakkale takes its name. The two castles were constructed by Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1463 to control the straits at their narrowest point. Kilitbahir's name, meaning "lock of the sea", reflects this defensive purpose. Due to the protracted siege against Candia, the castle and Kale-i Sultaniye were repaired in order to fortify the Dardanelles.
Text adapted from “Kilitbahir Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kilitbahir Castle ranks #3,017 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #50 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded 1452, it is older than 47% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 554 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,867 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.
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