“Roman (European) Poplar”
North of Sarıyer, Rumeli Kavağı is the sister of Anadolu Kavaği on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. Together they make up the two last stops on the Şehir Hatları long Bosphorus cruises and both offer a range of fish restaurants clustered round a harbour to passengers who want to disembark. They are also the last stops on the European and Asian shore coastal-hop ferry services.
At one of the narrowest points of the Bosphorus, Rumeli Kavaği has always held great strategic importance and a castle was built here as early as the 12th century by Manuel I Komnenus. İmroz Kalesi was later occupied by the Genoese and then by the Ottomans, its most recent incarnation having taken shape during the reign of Sultan Murad IV (r. 1623-1640). In Byzantine times a chain could be strung across the Bosphorus from İmroz Kalesi to Yoros Kalesi to prevent enemy ships passing.
There’s a small stretch of sandy beach nearby at Altınkum.
It remains to be seen what impact the Third Bosphorus Bridge will have on what had been a quiet, secluded part of the northern Bosphorus.
Transport info
Full Bosphorus cruises depart Eminönü for Rumeli Kavağı daily at 10.35am, returning at 15.10pm (https://www.sehirhatlari.istanbul/).
Nearby areas
