O.K. so I will jump in here and post something. This past weekend we were feeling a bit surrounded by buildings, and so we went on a walk along the Bosphorus. We left for the walk after going to an amazing buffet breakfast at a restaurant in an old part of Istanbul. We have made it a habit to go to Sunday brunch with another family nearly every weekend. The buffet spreads are amazing and you typically spend 2/12 to 3 hours eating and drinking tea - great way to relax.
Anyways, we left from the breakfast spot and walked about 5 kilometers along the water. We had seen a castle on the side of the Bosphrus and wanted to make it to the castle to take a look. According to legend this castle was built in the same spot where Jason and the Argonauts passed through the Bosphorus - According to one website: The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
So needless to say, this castle is in an impressive spot, having been built in the 1500's and being a main fortress denying the passage of ships beyond this spot. Like many other sites in Turkey, we were free to roam around the remains and explore the many walls and turrets. We had a great time and thought about what it would have been like 500 years ago being a soldier guarding the castle walls (well that last part might have just been me). Mike
Anyways, we left from the breakfast spot and walked about 5 kilometers along the water. We had seen a castle on the side of the Bosphrus and wanted to make it to the castle to take a look. According to legend this castle was built in the same spot where Jason and the Argonauts passed through the Bosphorus - According to one website: The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
So needless to say, this castle is in an impressive spot, having been built in the 1500's and being a main fortress denying the passage of ships beyond this spot. Like many other sites in Turkey, we were free to roam around the remains and explore the many walls and turrets. We had a great time and thought about what it would have been like 500 years ago being a soldier guarding the castle walls (well that last part might have just been me). Mike