Özet:

Eskihisar Castle is located in Eskihisar Village in Gebze, whose name is thought to be Niketiaton in the Byzantine period. The article discusses the location of Niketiaton, the historical and architectural features of the castle. In the period between 9th and 14th centuries, Bithynia gained importance in terms of its defense structures; within the other structures of the region that formed its network of defense, transportation and trade, the inner castle comes forth as an interesting example because of its plan and architectural elements like a domestic building and fireplace. As a result of a comparison with the other defensive structures in northwestern and western Anatolia, we believe that the inner castle can be dated to the 13th century. After the comparison, the framed technique and brick decorations on the inner castle seem datable to the 13th century, as these applications are comparable to the Lascarian examples found by Foss on the structures in Lydia. When the historical background is taken into consideration, inner castle can belong to the second half of the 13th century, after 1241, when the Gulf was again under Byzantine rule during the reign of John Vatatzes. The building phases and dates suggested by Foss seem compatible with the historical data but the material and technical data of the castle point to a later date, which is inconsistent with the records about Niketiaton in the sources. The limited number of comprehensive and detailed studies on Byzantine defense structures caused the lack of sufficient comparison data for our research. It is clear that a detailed examination of the defense structures built especially in northwestern Anatolia during the period between the Battle of Manzikert and the conquest of İstanbul will provide important data in terms of Byzantine and Ottoman history and architecture.

Anahtar Kelimeler: