Babakale Castle

Restored early-18th-century Ottoman fortress above the harbour at Asia's western edge.

Babakale Castle, also called Hirzu'l-Bahr, was built in the 1720s under Sultan Ahmed III to defend a small naval harbour from piracy and attack. Its rectangular walls and towers have been restored, and the east gate still gives a strong sense of arrival.

The castle is the village's anchor. From the walls you look down to fishing boats and out across the channel toward Lesvos.

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