Yoros

Brief information

Yoros stands on a high hill at the point where the Bosphorus opens into the Black Sea. For this reason, the fortress is important not only as picturesque ruins: its position explains why the Byzantines, Genoese, and Ottomans fought over it for so long. The Spanish ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo called it the key to the Black Sea, which neatly translates its military history into simple geography: whoever held this hill watched over the entrance to the strait.

The name “Genoese Fortress” became established because of Genoese control in the second half of the 14th century, but the walls of Yoros do not belong to a single era. After the Ottoman conquest, the fortress was still repaired, and it had a mosque, a water source, and a bathhouse. In the 19th century, Yoros lost its military significance and fell into decline; today, the meaning of the place is read precisely through what remains of the defensive system.

What to notice right away

The main focus of a visit is the eastern side. In the past, it was the most heavily fortified part of the fortress and faced not the water, but toward Anatolia. This changes the usual idea of a fortress by the strait: Yoros controlled the passage to the Black Sea, but it also had to withstand an attack from land. With this in mind, the two surviving towers, the gate, and the remains of the walls can be compared as parts of a single defensive logic.

At the gate, the important feature is the brickwork with which the entrance was blocked up from both the outside and the inside so that the arch would not collapse. This is no longer medieval defense, but a trace of later preservation of the ruins. The ancient Greek inscriptions and the symbols of the Palaiologoi on the walls are also meaningful: they show that the place was connected with Byzantine power, even though it is often called the Genoese Fortress. Another useful image is the presumed walls descending to the strait, with a pier and a lighthouse: the fortress was connected not only with the hill, but also with the movement of ships.