Aziziye Tabyası

Aziziye Bastion is one of the Ottoman-era defensive works built on the slopes of Top Dağı east of Erzurum, and it is the best known bastion in the city. According to the tourism guide of the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the main bastion lies at the southern end of Top Dağı at an altitude of about 2068 metres. It was built between 1867 and 1872 on the orders of Sultan Abdülaziz, to a design by Fosfor Mustafa Paşa. Its purpose was to control the Erzurum-Kars road, which reaches the city from the east. Today the bastion, together with its neighbour the Mecidiye Bastion, lies within the boundaries of the Nene Hatun Historical National Park. The line of bastions around Erzurum is much larger than a single structure. The Culture Portal counts 21 bastions built on hills with commanding views around the city and writes that the first of them go back to the Ottoman-Iranian wars of the 18th century. An article by Erman Aksoy of Gazi University reports that 44 bastions existing in the 18th and 19th centuries have been identified. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam notes that Aziziye, Mecidiye and a few other bastions were built before 1877, while the others to the north, south and east of the city were built later. According to the tourism guide, stones from the partly ruined Erzurum Castle were also used in this construction. The name Aziziye actually covers three structures close to one another. The first bastion has a U-shaped plan; command units are in its western part, and the other sections consist of vaulted rooms reached through round-arched doors. Its east and north walls are built of neatly dressed stone and the remaining walls of rubble stone. The second bastion lies about 200 metres north of the first and consists of a crescent-shaped earth mound with stone structures at its two ends. The third bastion has a regular hexagonal plan and was built to hold the Vank Deresi road coming from the Pasinler Plain. In this structure, whose courtyard contains snow wells, basalt was used for the arches of the doors and windows, dark brown stone for the walls and brick for the roofing. The Culture Portal also describes the general structure of the bastions. The rows of rooms set side by side were covered with a thick layer of earth, and sections such as assembly yards, storerooms and an infirmary were placed on the side facing away from the expected enemy. The barrack rooms are 3 to 4 metres wide and 6 to 14.5 metres deep. Some rooms were divided in two with wooden planks to create two storeys. In these structures, where strength and practicality matter more than decoration, the dark colour of the basalt stands out sharply against the dry grass around them. The bastion's name is most closely associated with the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, on the night of 8 to 9 November 1877 an important defensive success was won at the Aziziye and Mecidiye bastions with the great support of the people of Erzurum, above all Nene Hatun. According to the encyclopedia, before that night Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa, who had withdrawn to Erzurum with his army, had rejected the offer of surrender made on 5 November 1877. The tourism guide records that the second Aziziye bastion was the first to be taken and recaptured in that raid. Aksoy's article relates that when news came that the bastion had been captured, people ran from the city and joined the fight with stones and sticks. According to the tourism guide, in front of the bastion stand the Aziziye Monument, erected in 1953, and the grave of Nene Hatun, who became the symbol of the defence. Nene Hatun received the title of Mother of the Year when it was awarded for the first time in 1955, and she died in Erzurum the same year. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the city, which could not be taken by force, was handed over under the armistice of early 1878 and evacuated again under the Treaty of Berlin signed on 13 July 1878. The area, which for many years lay inside a military security zone, was declared a 387-hectare historical national park by a decision dated 18 May 2009. Every year in November a commemorative walk is held to the Aziziye and Mecidiye bastions. According to the Culture Portal, the bastions are about three kilometres from the city centre, on the east side of the city, north of the military barracks on the Kars road, and are reached by private or commercial vehicles. Because the hilltop is open ground, it is a good idea to bring a hat in summer and warm clothing in winter. Looking west from around the monument, the whole city and, to the south, the slopes of Palandöken open up in a wide panorama.