Gelibolu Castle

Gelibolu Castle, locally known as Gelibolu Kalesi, lies in the center of the town of the same name, in the province of Çanakkale in Turkey. Gallipoli is the Latin name of Gelibolu.

It is said that Gelibolu Castle was founded by the Thracian king Filikos Bergas. It consisted of an outer castle surrounding the town and an inner castle on a hill dominating the center of the town. In front of the inner castle were an artificial inner and outer harbor.

In the 6th century, after the walls of Gelibolu were damaged by raids of Kutrigurs under their Khan Zabergan, the castle walls were rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. The castle was strengthened in the early 8th century by the Byzantine Emperor Philippikos Bardanes to be able to withstand raids by Muslim Arabs.

After Gelibolu was recaptured from the Latin Empire in 1235, the castle was again repaired by the Byzantine Emperor of Nicaea; John III Doukas Vatatzes. In 1354, after an earthquake had damaged the walls, the town and castle were taken for the Ottomans by Süleyman Pasha (son of Orhan). In the late 14th century Sultan Bayezid I turned Gelibolu into an important naval base for the Ottomans. He had the old outer castle walls demolished and restored the inner castle. The 2 harbors were cleaned out and 4 towers at their entrances were built to protect them.

During the Gallipoli Campaign in WWI, Gelibolu Castle was completely destroyed by shelling. All that remains today is one square tower that guarded the entrance of the inner harbor. Originally the tower had 3 floors, now only 2. The copious use of spolia shows that this tower was built by the Ottomans.

At present Gelibolu Castle houses the Piri Reis Museum. The small museum can be visited for a small fee but was closed when I came by, sadly enough. A nice castle remnant in a pleasant harbor town.

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