Akcakale castle is a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

fortress in Akcakale (the previous name was

Kordyle Cordyle or Kordyle ( grc, Κορδύλη), also called Portus Chordyle, was a town of ancient Pontus, on the Black Sea coast, 40 or 45 stadia east of Hieron Oros or Yoros. The name occurs in the ''Tabula Peutingeriana'' in the form Cordile. There a ...

) at

Akçaabat Akçaabat is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located to the west of the city of Trabzon. It covers an area of and the elevation is . The town has an estimated population o ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, lying 18 km west of

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

. Built on a terrace facing the sea the fortress is believed to have been built by emperor

Alexios II of Trebizond Alexios II Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός , translit=Alexios Megas Komnēnos; Sept./Dec. 1282 – 3 May 1330), was Emperor of Empire of Trebizond, Trebizond from 1297 to 1330. He was the elder son of John II of Treb ...

(1297-1330) for protection against the

Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * Seljuk (warlord) (di ...

attacks. The fortress was defended for another seven years after the conquest of Trabzon, until it was taken over by

Mahmud Pasha Angelović Mahmud Pasha Angelović ( sr, Махмуд-паша Анђеловић/Mahmud-paša Anđelović; tr, Veli Mahmud Paşa; 1420–1474) was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1456 to 1466 and again from 1472 to 1474, who also wrote Persian ...

in 1468, one of the commanders of

Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

Notes and references

External links

Towers of Trabzon (gallery)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akcakale Tower History of Trabzon Province Empire of Trebizond Buildings and structures in Trabzon Byzantine fortifications in Turkey