Foça Castle (), also known as Beşkapılar Castle (), is a coastal fortification in

İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...

, western Turkey. The castle is located in

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

(district) of İzmir Province at . Its distance to

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

is about . The fortification wall around the ancient city of

Phocaea Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...

was built in 590-580 BC. The walls underwent restoration during the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

era. The castle was a part of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

in the 13th century, and it was rebuilt by the Genovese.İzmir Ministry of Culture page
/ref> In the 14th century, Ottoman prince

Şehzade Halil Halil Bey (1347 – 1362; ) was an Ottoman prince, son of Orhan, the second bey of the Ottoman beylik, and Theodora Kantakouzene, the daughter of Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina. His kidnapping was an important event ...

was kidnapped and retained in the castle. The fortification was restored in 1538 by Ottomans after the city was annexed. The castle stretches over the peninsula.

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

temple marks the northernmost end and the five gates collectively known as Beşkapılar (“Five Gates”) mark the southwestern end. Beşkapılar was used as a boatshed () during the Ottoman Empire. In 2020, Foça Castle was included in the

list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey (Tentative list) The UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural heritage, cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, establishe ...

References

{{Castles in Turkey History of İzmir Province Foça District Castles in Turkey Coastal fortifications Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Phocaea