The Kerkoporta (Eğrikapı)

Istanbul · Turkiet · Fortress

A small gate between Edirnekapı and Eğrikapı was left unbolted the night the city fell — historians deny it, the legend lives on.

Along the Theodosian wall, on the stretch between Edirnekapı and Eğrikapı, there stood according to legend a small side gate called the Kerkoporta. On the night of 29 May 1453 someone is said to have forgotten to bolt it. Turkish soldiers patrolling between the wall lines found it standing open, called others in, and that is how the city fell — not to the siege guns but to a moment's carelessness. The account comes mainly from the chronicler Doukas, who was not himself in the city during the siege, while contemporary sources describe instead a breakthrough at a collapsed section of wall further south. Historians have dismissed the open gate for centuries. Yet no legend of Istanbul has proved harder to shut. Where it stood, nobody can any longer say.

FAQ

Where is The Kerkoporta (Eğrikapı) located?

The Kerkoporta (Eğrikapı) is in Istanbul, Turkiet.

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