It is a 700 year-old fort, built in 1395 as a police station at the request of the fourth Ottoman sultan, Yıldırım Beyazıd. This fortress, built on an area of seven decares, was built at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus. The opposite shore is only 660 meters away. The hisar also gave its name to the region where it is located and is located next to the Göksu stream. Known as Göksu because it is a clean enough stream to reflect the blue of the sky, the creek witnessed the unforgettable moments of the Tulip Era.
From this stream, men and women got on separate boats and opened the strait, singing and enjoying the most glamorous days of the Ottoman empire. Numerous mansions in the vicinity have remained the legacy of these gaudy days.
Anadolu Hisarı was built to take profitable measures for the Genoese who established colonies in the Black Sea together with the Byzantines, to keep the Bosphorus crossings under control and to prevent infiltration into the Göksu valley.
This castle was described in the history of Aşıkpaşazâde with the following words.
“Yıldırım Beyazıt, passing through Kocaeli, came towards Istanbul (1390-91) and sent Yahsi Bey, who took the Şile Castle. Sultan built a castle called Güzelce Hisar on Boğazkesen."
The Rumeli Hisarı, built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror of Istanbul, is located right across the Anatolian Hisarı.
The castle, which is of great value as a Turkish castle built even before the conquest of Istanbul, deserves to be seen with a breath taking atmosphere it adds to the Bosphorus. Especially from the sea, where the Göksu stream meets the Bosphorus, it is waiting for you to imagine and even experience the glory of the Tulip Age, which has not been forgotten for centuries.