Galata Tower, Medieval stone tower in Beyoğlu, Turkey.
The Galata Tower is a medieval stone structure in Beyoğlu with nine floors and an observation platform near the top. The cylindrical form is crowned by a conical lead roof added after a 19th-century restoration.
Genoese settlers built it in 1348 as Christea Turris to watch over their trading colony and protect against attacks. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453, it served as a watchtower for spotting fires and later briefly as a prison.
The tower takes its name from the Galata district where it stands; the Genoese called it Christea Turris, the Tower of Christ, after the cross on its summit. Since 2020 it has served as a museum and exhibition space, and its exterior is used on certain days for commemorations and celebrations.
An elevator takes visitors near the observation platform, from where you can see the old city and both shores of the Bosphorus. The upper floors host exhibitions about the city's history and the tower's role through the centuries.
In 1632, Ottoman aviator Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi reportedly flew from the top across the Bosphorus to the Asian shore using artificial wings. This legend is mentioned in several historical sources and remains part of local storytelling about the tower today.
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