Fodor's Expert Review Rumeli Hisarı

Built on a hill on the European side of the city overlooking the water, Rumeli Hisarı is the best preserved of all the fortresses on the Bosphorus and well worth a visit. Constructed in just four months in 1452, this eccentric-looking complex was ordered by Mehmet the Conqueror to be situated directly across from Anadolu Hisarı, at the narrowest point of the strait. This allowed the Ottomans to take control of the waterway, and Mehmet and his troops conquered Constantinople the following year.