Trabzon Castle

The Walls of Trabzon (or the "Walls of Trebizond") are a series of defensive walls surrounding the old town of the city of Trabzon, northeastern Turkey. The fortifications are sometimes called the Trabzon Castle (Turkish: Trabzon Kalesi). However, they did not function as a castle, rather as city walls. Constructed on foundations dating back to the Roman era with cut stones from former structures at site, the walls stretch from the hill on the backside of the old town to the Black Sea shore. The walls further divided the city into three parts; the Upper Town or "fortress" (Yukari Hisar), the Middle Town (Orta Hisar) and the Lower Town (Aşağı Hisar). The upper and middle towns are flanked by steep ravines cut by the Zagnos (Iskeleboz) and Tabakhane (Kuzgun) streams to the west and east respectively, while the lower town extends to the west of Zagnos (see the plan on the right).

The Upper Town functioned as the citadel and as the acropolis of the city. It is believed that the citadel was built as the first construction in 2000 BC. Some early sources mention the existence of ruins of structures such as hippodrome, tower, bath and palace. The citadel underwent various modifications in the history. The walls of the Upper Fortress are higher than of the other parts. It is fortified in the south with higher and thicker walls and towers.