3 .
B A S T I O N S
The history of the first bastions built in Erzurum
dates back to the Ottoman - Iran war from the 18th
century . However , the largest bastions were built as
of the beginning of the 19th century in order to stop
the invasions and attacks of the Russians to Eastern
Anatolia . As many as 22 of these strategic structures
that were constructed on the hills with high
viewpoint around the city . These bastions which
have headquarter buildings , army barracks , training
areas , eating and drinking sections , reservoirs and
ambush rooms are sometimes they are composed of
a combination of a number of large structures . The
most important bastions which have different
dimensions and positions are Mecidiye and the
Aziziye bastions which are to on east of the city .
Whereas the bastions are completely constructed
out of cut stone , principles of robustness and usage
were stressed rather than architectural style . The
bastions which consist of adjacent rooms are
covered with a layer of thick soil . Places like depots ,
infirmaries were positioned in the gathering areas
of the soldiers on the opposite side of direction
through which the enemy would come . Whereas
there are the rooms of the barracks on the widest
part of the bastions , these have been constructed in
connection with each other and in a rectangular
shape . The width of the rooms is 3 . 00 - 4 . 00 meters
and their depths is 6 . 00 - 14 . 50 meters . Some of these
rooms which have only one storey mostly have been
divided into two with wooden beams in order to
gain space thereby being transformed into two
storeys . The Mecidiye and Aziziye Bastions which
are to east of Erzurum have had a critical function
in the 1877 - 1878 Ottoman - Russian Was also known
as “ 93 War ”.