Seddülbahir Castle

Seddülbahir Castle, locally known as Seddülbahir Kalesi, lies on the shore in the village of the same name, in the province of Çanakkale in Turkey.

During the Battle of the Dardanelles (1654-57), which was part of the Cretan War (1645-1669) the Venetians had been able to block and often raid the Dardanelles Strait. After the Ottomans had broken the blockade, they understood that the castles of Kilitbahir and Çimenlik were not enough to defend the strait. So, in 1659, they built 2 new castles at the mouth of the strait, Seddülbahir on the European shore and Kumkale on the Asian shore.

The construction of Seddülbahir Castle is said to have been ordered by Turhan Hatice, Valide Sultan (legal mother of the ruling Sultan; which was Mehmed IV). The castle has an irregular ground plan. It was restored in 1885.

During WWI, the castle, armed with 12 cannons, was first bombed by British forces in November 1914. In February 1915 the castle was again targeted, this time by the combined Anglo-French fleet, and it was almost bombed out of existence. It was finally taken by French forces in April that same year. The Allied had dubbed the castle "Fort 3". On a hill west of the castle was "Fort 1"; Ertuğrul Bastion, and in between was a landing site, dubbed "V Beach".

Seddülbahir remained a deteriorating ruin until 2015 when a large-scale restoration project was started. This project is still going on today and is expected to take several more years.

At present Seddülbahir Castle can not be visited because it is being restored. Most of the west front of the castle has already been rebuilt. When I came by the complete castle was a busy building site. I hope to return in the future and see how the restoration turned out. To be honest, I am a bit skeptical; I am afraid it will look completely new and it will have lost its historical atmosphere. But hey, maybe I am just too big a fan of ruins.

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