Çorum Castle

Merkez CastleHistoric Buildings October 2010

Çorum Castle is a defensive structure in the Kale neighborhood of the provincial center, rising on a hill that commands the city and forming the historical core of the town. As the name of the neighborhood it gave its name to suggests, the old settlement of Çorum largely developed around this castle.

History

The castle’s date of construction has not been firmly established. Although some sources state that it was built in the time of the Danişmendids or the Seljuks, it was most likely built in an earlier period, during the Byzantine era, on a hill commanding the area. As in many places across Central Anatolia, it is thought that an existing defensive position was taken up again and repaired in later periods.

A significant portion of what is known about the castle is based on the observations of travelers who passed through Çorum in various periods. Evliya Çelebi, who came to the city in the 16th century, reported that the castle, located on the qibla (southern) side of the city, was built by Sultan Kılıçarslan, and noted that there were several houses inside the castle. W. F. Ainsworth, who came to Çorum in 1842, argued that the castle was built with old material, that its walls had been renewed at different times, and that the original plan had been preserved during these renovations. Ainsworth also recorded that numerous ancient marble columns, gravestones from the Byzantine period, statues, and inscriptions had been used as reused spolia in the walls.

The traveler W. J. Hamilton, who passed through Çorum in the same year, noted that the castle on the hill to the southeast of the city was said by the local population to have been built by Süleyman the Magnificent. Hamilton stated that the castle had a square plan and round towers, and that numerous inscriptions and reused fragments from the Byzantine period were incorporated into its walls as building material; because of the abundance of these architectural pieces, he suggested that an Early Christian town might have existed in the vicinity. He also learned from the local people that these pieces had been brought from the nearby ruins of Karahisar.

Architecture

The castle, which underwent repairs at various times, has walls 2.40 m thick and 7.35 m high. The castle has a square plan measuring 80.00 x 80.00 m. Bastions were placed at the corners of the curtain walls and above the gates. The structure was built of finely cut stone and rough-hewn stone, with reused fragments from the Roman period used among them. Greek inscriptions have been found on some of these stones; this points to the building’s long history of use and to older settlements in the surrounding area.

The castle broadly reflects Seljuk architectural features. Some records concerning the castle are also found in written sources: in documents dated 1571, a record providing for water to be brought to the castle bears the phrase “it is a charitable endowment of Sultan Süleyman.” During the Ottoman period there was settlement inside the castle, and a small mosque (mescit) was also built inside it in this period.

The castle lies at the heart of the historic fabric of the city center of Çorum and is considered together with the surrounding traditional residential fabric. While visiting the building, one can also see the other historical and cultural stops in the city center: Çorum Houses, Çorum Clock Tower, Çorum Grand Mosque (Murad-ı Rabi Mosque), and Çorum Museum. For comparison with the other castle structures in the province, İskilip Castle and Osmancık Castle (Kandıber Castle) can also be examined.