Draft:Aydos Castle

Aydos Castle, also known as Goat Castle, is a castle located on a 325-meter extension of Aydos Hill in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, Turkey. It has been declared a first degree archaeological site along with its surroundings.

History
It is estimated that the castle was built in the 11th and 12th centuries, during the Eastern Roman Empire. Its name at that time, "Aetos" (Αετός), meant "eagle" in Greek. This name has been preserved with very minor changes until today. The importance of the castle increased as the Turks approached Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in the 11th century; However, with the start of the Crusades, the Turks left the region.With the renewed struggles in the region at the end of the 13th century, a large part of the Kocaeli Peninsula came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire between 1326 and 1328. During this period, the border between the two states was on the Aetos-Pentikion (modern-day Pendik) line.

According to the information in Âşıkpaşazâde History, Ottoman Sultan Orhan Gazi assigned Abdurrahman Gazi, Akça Koca and Konur Alp to take the castle. Ottoman forces first captured Semendra Castle (modern-day Samandıra) and then besieged Aydos Castle. According to Âşıkpaşazâde, the daughter of the castle lord saw a handsome hero in her dream before the siege, and then found herself in a pit. This hero saved her, took off her clothes, washed them and dressed the girl in new clothes. The girl soon recognized Abdurrahman Gazi, whom she saw among the Ottomans besieging the castle, as the hero of her dreams, and wrapped the note in which she wrote that she would hand over the castle to him, wrapped it in a stone and threw it to the soldiers. In the note, it was written that the Turks should pretend to retreat, come back at night and he would take them to the castle. At night, the girl threw a lasso from the castle body and Abdurrahman Gazi held on to it and entered the castle. After he opened the door from the inside, the castle came under Ottoman rule with the Ottoman soldiers entering. This story was later expressed in different styles by other writers. What happened in Neşrî's pen turned into a love story, and in Hodja Sâdeddin Efendi's narration, it turned into a religious story. In one version, the Tekfur girl was dreaming of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In the following years, the girl's dream; While it was described in different ways by names such as Hadidî, İbn-i Kemal, Katip Çelebi, Solakzade Mehmet Hemdemi Efendi, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall and Alphonse de Lamartine also included the event in their own books. In a miniature by Arifi in Osmannâme dated 1558, the Tekfur girl is depicted taking Abdurrahman Gazi to the castle by hanging her long braid from the castle.

After the conquest, raids were organized towards Scutari (now Üsküdar) under the leadership of Abdurrahman Gazi, who settled in the castle. However, after a while, the castle lost its importance. In Hoca Sâdeddin Efendi's work titled Tâcü't-Tevârîh, it is stated that after the conquest of Izmi t in 1337, Orhan Gazi liked the city very much and since the nearby Aydos Castle was no longer needed, he demolished the castle and brought the guards and those living in the castle to Izmit.

Archaeological Studies
Archaeological excavations, which are the first leg of the survey, restitution and restoration work aimed at the castle, were started on September 13, 2010 by Sultanbeyli Municipality, under the chairmanship of Zeynep Kızıltan, Director of Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The first phase of the excavations, carried out by the area manager, Deputy Museum Director Gülbahar Baran Çelik, was completed on February 17, 2011. The excavations, whose second phase started a few years later, ended in December 2022 and were opened to the civilian public

Location and architectural features
Covering an area of 26,000 m2 from its outer walls, the castle is located on a 325 m high extension of Aydos Hill. The first phase of the construction of the castle dates back to the 11th-12th centuries. It is thought to be in the century. Two walls, inner and outer; There are six bastions on the inner defense wall and seven bastions on the outer one.

Influences on popular culture
The archaeological studies carried out in the castle were the subject of the documentary titled Door to Istanbul: Aydos, supervised by Halil İnalcık and directed by Emine Çaykara.