Three of the now-restored castles on the Gallipoli Peninsula had a very important place in the security of the Dardanelles strait during the country's War of Independence. The latest to be restored, Seddülbahir Castle, is set to reopen for visitors on Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs' Day on March 18, 2023.

War-weary veterans' Kilitbahir and Bigalı castles, which witnessed the traces of the bloodiest war in history in which the Çanakkale epic was written, were opened to visitors as museums in 2018 and 2022, while the third castle, Seddülbahır, is set to open in March 2023, the year that marks 100th anniversary of the Turkish republic.

The city of Çanakkale and its strait, which has hosted various cultures, has always been protected by castles built on the European and Anatolian sides throughout history due to their geopolitical importance.

Ismail Kaşdemir, the head of the Çanakkale Wars Gallipoli Historical Site, said that Çanakkale is a city of castles and that Çanakkale's castles are ''historical veteran places that witnessed history.'' It is known that these three castles, together with the bravery of Turk soldiers in World War I, provided resilience and inspired the famous phrase "Çanakkale is impassable."

Kilitbahir Castle

Kilitbahir Castle, whose restoration took seven years, was opened to visitors by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 18, 2018, as Türkiye's first living museum castle. The castle, designed in the shape of a three-leaf clover, was built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet in the village of Kilitbahir, at the narrowest part of the Bosporus in 1462-1463. The castle greets the ships passing through the Bosporus with its magnificent appearance and inspires visitors with "its heroism."

From the life of famous Ottoman sailor Piri Reis to the daily life in the court, from the architecture and the defense style characteristic of the Ottoman era, to trade and worship, everything in the castle (in its Yellow Tower and 7-floor Main Tower) is explained to the visitors with modern technology.

Bigali Castle

Bigali Castle, whose construction started during the reign of Sultan Selim III in 1807 and was completed during the reign of Sultan Mahmut II. in 1820, was used as the Corps Esliha (Weapon) Repair Shop during the Çanakkale war.

The 203-year-old castle underwent restoration and display installations starting in 2017 through the work of the Presidency of Gallipoli Historical Sites. After five years of work, it was inaugurated by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy on April 24, on the 107th anniversary of the Çanakkale Land Wars in 2022.

Seddülbahir Castle

Seddülbahir Castle, the third castle on the historical Gallipoli Peninsula, which was heavily damaged by the artillery shells fired from the ships that wanted to cross the Dardanelles in World War I, was also damaged due to natural conditions in the intervening period of a century.

The restoration and landscaping work on this castle initiated in 2015 by the Presidency of Gallipoli Historical Sites to revive the ruined castle and turn it into an open-air museum is almost complete. When the Seddülbahir Castle Museum is fully completed and inaugurated, visitors will be informed about the castle's history from the 17th century to the present.

Meanwhile, the scientific advisory board, attended by the faculty members of Istanbul Technical University and Koç University, continues to work on the inventory of 45,477 artifacts, primarily military war materials, of different qualities, during the archaeological excavations carried out during the restoration applications.

Seddülbahir Castle was transformed into an open-air museum when the final exhibition arrangement, additional structures, electromechanical elements, lighting, infrastructure and landscaping works were completed. It will be opened to visitors on March 18, 2023. This is when the 108th Çanakkale Naval Victory will be celebrated in the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the republic.

After opening, visitors will be able to examine the events of the 1915 Çanakkale battles that took place in this castle, get to know war materials and documents dating to that period, and as well to visit the cemetery where the first martyrs of Çanakkale gave their lives fighting the Allied forces.

Stating that Çanakkale is a city of castles, Çanakkale Wars Gallipoli Historical Sites Director Ismail Kaşdemir said: "The castles of Çanakkale are very critical defense structures that ensure the security of the Dardanelles. They are historical places where the footsteps and memories of great heroes are found. As the Presidency of the History Area, we started the restoration process of these heroic places and veteran castles in Çanakkale. All of these are a sort of 'living' castle museums."

Sharing that the process of resurrecting the castles began with Kilitbahir Castle, Kaşdemir also said: ''Kilitbahir Castle, the heirloom of Fatih Sultan Mehmet, is a veteran place of the Çanakkale battles. It has started to serve our visitors as a castle museum in this land where the spirit of Çanakkale is now felt, after a very important and beautiful restoration process.''

"Bigali Castle, which was used as a gun repair shop, where the users and weapons were repaired during the Çanakkale Wars, was opened to visitors last year and started to serve as a castle museum," he also noted.

Reiterating that the restoration works continue in Seddülbahir Castle within the framework of the ongoing efforts to restore the "Gazi" (Veteran) castles, Kaşdemir continued his statement: "I hope we will put our Seddülbahir Castle into service on March 18, 2023. Seddülbahir Castle, which is the heirloom of the 4th Mehmet, Hatice Turhan Sultan's heirloom, is a historical place. It is also the place where the first martyrs of Çanakkale gave their lives. These castles were inherited from our ancestors. They also witnessed significant events during the Çanakkale Wars.''

Emphasizing that the presidency also works on preserving ancestral relics and historical places, Kaşdemir pointed out that they aim to transfer the importance of the great sacrifice and spirit of Çanakkale to future generations. ''As the Presidency of the Historic Areas, we will always protect our history, ancestral heirlooms, veteran's places castles, bastions, and trenches, because our history is great. These are golden pages in our history,'' he added.

Noting that Çanakkale is the preamble of the Turkish republic, ''our common value,'' the place where the founder of the republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, took the stage in history, Kaşdemir called on all the children of the Turkish nation to remember the spirit of Çanakkale.