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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

The Maritime Walls

The maritime walls completed the defence of the city. The wall was a single wall reinforced by towers. Most of the walls along the Golden Horn have been sacrificed to modern traffic, while the walls along the Sea of Marmara have been partially preserved, in particular those at the tip of the peninsula from Topkapi Sarayi (the Seraglio the Sultan's Palace) to the Blue Mosque.

Maritime walls

Some of the towers still show inscriptions from the Byzantine period. Behind them the glory of the Sultans, Topkapi Sarayi (in the background of this page the kitchens of the palace).

Maritime walls near Topkapi

The walls show from time to time signs of Byzantine buildings as well as of Turkish additions.

Byzantine ruins and Turkish additions

The Sultans, like the Byzantine Emperors had more to fear from the inside, than from the outside so Topkapi Sarayi was protected by terrestrial walls which went down the hill to join the maritime walls (and this explains why this stretch of the maritime walls is in good condition). The picture below is taken at the junction of the two lines of walls (in the background Hagia Sofia).

Topkapi Sarayi walls

Bukoleon Palace

Bukoleon Palace

Emperor Justinian built a small imperial palace having direct access to the imperial harbour. The palace was decorated with statues of bulls and lions and it is named after them.

Details

The ruins still retain some of the decoration.

Lions' Gate

Next to the palace the Lions' Gate led to the imperial harbour (the lions are today in Topkapi Sarayi). The ruins show the acanthus leaves decoration of the Roman tradition.

Walls on the Sea

Maritime walls

A large modern avenue dedicated to President Kennedy runs along the Marmara Sea: here and there small sections of the maritime walls can be seen inland: only in one location they are still on the coastline and it is possible to visualize how they appeared seen from a ship.

Introduction to this section
From the Golden Horn to Top Kapi
From Top Kapi to Yedikule Kapi
From Yedikule Kapi to Mermer Kule
Roman memories
A glimpse of Baroque in Istanbul