Sinop Kalesi

Sinop Castle is a castle built on the peninsula where the city of Sinop is located. The castle was founded in the 7th century BC to protect the city. It was repaired several times during the Roman, Byzantine and Anatolian Seljuk periods. The walls of the castle, which still preserves its characteristics today, are 2,050 meters long, 25 meters high, and 3 meters wide. There are two main entrance gates. The fortress wall surrounds the city. This castle is among the prominent historical monuments of the city. UNESCO included the castle on the World Heritage Tentative List in 2013. It is not known when the castle, which is located between the inner and outer ports of Sinop, surrounding the Yalı and Kefevi districts, was built. Although some sources date the construction of the castle to the Hittites, this situation has not been finalized. In 72 BC, Pontus King IV. Mithridates built a temple, theatre, gymnasium and palace in Sinop, and surrounded the city with walls. In the following periods, the castle was repaired by the Seljuk Dynasty, İsfendiyaroğulları and the Ottomans in 1451 and expanded with annexes. Repair inscriptions of this period dated h.612, h.615, h.838 and h.855 are in the castle. The names of the commanders who built the walls are written in these inscriptions.