Fatih Sultan Mehmet II (also called Mehmet the Conqueror) strategically built this castle across the narrowest point of the Dardanelles from Kilitbahir Castle, allowing them to control maritime traffic to and from Istanbul. In World War I, the castle, then an administrative center for the Ottomans, was bombarded by the French and British fleets during the 1915 Battle of Çanakkale. Today it leads a more peaceful existence as a military museum.