Samsun Castle on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Samsun Castle was a castle in
The castle was built near the 
The castle walls on the seaside were reinforced by abutments at every twelve step distance to enable the walls to resist the rogue waves of the Black Sea. The castle, which underwent repair from time to time, remained almost intact until the great fire of 1869. After the fire, the landside walls of the castle were demolished in order to make room for construction to rebuild the city. The castle, except the seaside walls and arsenal, disappeared.
During the
In 2008, during the restoration works at the Grand Mosque ( tr, Büyük Cami), remains of the castle walls were found. Today, only the remains of a -long castle wall ruin is available. The Board of Reservation of Cultural Heritage in Samsun registered the entire castle walls and put it under protection.
The metropolitan municipality of Samsun reported in January 2015 that plans are made to restore the castle.
Samsun
Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...
, Turkey. Built on the seaside in 1092, it was demolished between 1909 and 1918.
History
The castle was built near the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...
coast by Danishmends
The Danishmendids or Danishmends ( fa, دودمان دانشمند; tr, Dânişmendliler) was a Turkish beylik that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia from 1071/1075 to 1178. The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and ...
in 1092 after they were unable to capture the Amisos Castle. The castle with -high walls hosted hundreds of houses and shops, two masdjids (small mosque) and a mosque commissioned by Hızır Bey, a commander of the Seljuk Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to ...
.
Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi
Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty ye ...
wrote after his visit to Samsun in 1640 in his comprehensive work '' Seyahatname'' ("Travelogue") that the castle was strong but damaged. It consisted of walls five thousand steps in length, seventy watchtowers and two thousand battlements. The castle hosted a mosque, a Turkish bath and a small shopping center.
The walls and towers of the castle were damaged and some parts of the structure were demolished in the 1668 North Anatolia earthquake which had a magnitude of 8.0.
The castle walls on the seaside were reinforced by abutments at every twelve step distance to enable the walls to resist the rogue waves of the Black Sea. The castle, which underwent repair from time to time, remained almost intact until the great fire of 1869. After the fire, the landside walls of the castle were demolished in order to make room for construction to rebuild the city. The castle, except the seaside walls and arsenal, disappeared.
During the Second Constitutional Era
The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the G ...
, the Ottoman Ministry of War made a decision to clear off all historical ruins that were approved by Sultan Mehmed V
Mehmed V Reşâd ( ota, محمد خامس, Meḥmed-i ḫâmis; tr, V. Mehmed or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) reigned as the 35th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan (). He was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother ...
(reigned 1909–1918). The castle's estate was handed over to the Ministry of War. Later, the land was turned over to the Ottoman Ministry of Finance, which sold it at auction after parceling.
An inscription, which was once attached above one of the castle gates, is archived at Istanbul University
, image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg
, image_size = 200px
, latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis
, motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü
, mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future
, established = 1453 1846 1933
...
's library today.
Restoration project
In 2008, during the restoration works at the Grand Mosque ( tr, Büyük Cami), remains of the castle walls were found. Today, only the remains of a -long castle wall ruin is available. The Board of Reservation of Cultural Heritage in Samsun registered the entire castle walls and put it under protection.
The metropolitan municipality of Samsun reported in January 2015 that plans are made to restore the castle.
References
External links
{{Castles in Turkey Buildings and structures completed in 1192 Castles in Turkey Demolished buildings and structures in Turkey Buildings and structures in Samsun