The Galata Tower (), officially the Galata Tower Museum (), is a medieval Genoese

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

in the

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...

part of the Beyoğlu district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the mostly demolished Walls of Galata, the tower is now an exhibition space and museum, and a symbol of Beyoğlu and Istanbul.

History

During the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period the Emperor

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

had a tower erected in what was to become

. This tower was destroyed by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

during the

Sack of Constantinople The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusaders sacked and destroyed most of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the city, the Latin Empire ( ...

in 1204. In 1267 a Genoese colony was established in the Galata part of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. It was surrounded by walls and the Galata Tower was first built at their highest point as the ''Christea Turris'' (Tower of Christ) in

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

in 1348 during an expansion of the colony. At the time the Galata Tower, at , was the tallest building in the city.Katie Hallam (2009). ''The Traveler's Atlas: Europe''. London: Barron's Educational Series.(2009), p. 118-119. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Genoese colony was abolished and most of the walls of the citadel were later pulled down in the 19th century, during the northward expansion of the city in the districts of Beyoğlu and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

; though small parts of the Genoese walls in Galata have survived. The tower was allowed to survive and was turned into a prison. It was from its roof that, in 1638, Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi supposedly strapped on wings and made the first intercontinental flight, landing in the Doğancılar Meydanı in

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

on the Asian side of the city, a story of doubtful authenticity recounted by the Ottoman travel writer,

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

. From 1717, the Ottomans used the tower to look out for fires (on the Old Istanbul side of the city the Beyazıt Tower served the same function). In 1794, during the reign of Sultan Selim III, the roof was reinforced in lead and wood, but the stairs were severely damaged by a fire. Another fire damaged the building in 1831, after which further restoration work took place. In 1875, the tower's conical roof was destroyed during a storm. It remained without this roof for the rest of the Ottoman period but, many years later, during restoration work between 1965 and 1967, the conical roof was reconstructed. At the same time the tower's wooden interior was replaced with a concrete structure and it was opened to the public. In 2020, the Tower was restored then reopened as a museum now open for the public and tourists. In 2023, restoration work began on the conical roof, with a focus on extending the lifecycle of the copper finial it once had as well. Other structural reinforcements were achieved on reinforced concrete elements and around the masonry walls, enabling improvements to the building's earthquake resiliency. A 3-meter-high protection tunnel was built around the tower to ensure the safety of visitors and the surrounding area. Galata Tower reopened to the visiting public on May 25, 2024, with a new visitor policy that capped visitor entry at 100 per hour. The tower is mainly popular for the 360-degree view of Istanbul visible from its observation deck.

Dimensions

The nine-story tower is tall, excluding the ornament on the top. The observation deck is at . The tower is above sea-level. It has an external diameter of at the base, an inside diameter of , and walls that are thick.

Gallery

File:The Galata Tower in Liber insularum Archipelagi (1420s-1430s).jpg, Galata Tower after

Cristoforo Buondelmonti Cristoforo Buondelmonti () was an Italian Franciscan priest, traveler, and was a pioneer in promoting first-hand knowledge of Greece and its antiquities throughout the Western world. Biography Cristoforo Buondelmonti was born around 1385 into an ...

, 1420s or 1430s File:The Galata Tower in Liber insularum Archipelagi, Düsseldorf copy.png, Galata Tower after

, late 1480s File:Matrakçı Nasuh - İstanbul (cropped-Galata).jpg, Galata Tower and Pera by Matrakçı Nasuh, 1537 File:French galleys of Captain Polin in front of Pera at Constantinople in August 1544.jpg, Galata Tower and Pera by Jérôme Maurand, 1544 File:Tour de Galatas - Lucas Paul - 1720.jpg, Galata Tower by Paul Lucas, 1720 File:Veduta della Torre di Galata da Settentrione - Comidas Cosimo - 1794.jpg, Galata Tower by Cosimo Comidas, 1794 File:Vue d'une partie de la ville de Constantinople, avec la pointe du Sérail, prise du Faubourg de Péra; Résidence des mi - Melling Antoine Ignace - 1819 (cropped).jpg, Galata Tower by Antoine Ignace Melling, 1819 File:Galata Tower (Francois Lemaitre, 1840).jpg, Galata Tower by , 1840 File:View of constantinople by evening light.jpg, Galata Tower by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1846 File:Galata Tower.jpg, Albumen print of the Galata Tower by Pascal Sébah, between 1875 and 1886 File:La torre de Galata (3060247581).jpg, Eastern side File:Night_Istanbul.jpg, Galata Tower at night File:Galata Tower, from Karaköy..jpg, Galata Tower, view from Karaköy

References

External links

Video "Galata Tower, aerial video (4k Ultra HD)"
{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey 1348 establishments in Europe 14th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire Buildings and structures in Beyoğlu Fortified towers Golden Horn Romanesque architecture Round towers Tourist attractions in Istanbul Buildings and structures completed in 1348 Towers completed in the 14th century Towers in Istanbul World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey

History

Dimensions

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links