GALATA TOWER

Description

Essentials about the Galata Tower in brief

It is one of Istanbul’s landmarks and hard to miss – the Galata Tower. The tower, which is located in the Galata district of the same name, towers over the metropolis on the Bosporus. Today, the Galata Tower no longer has its former function as a watchtower. Instead, you can enjoy a good meal in a restaurant at the top of the tower and a great view of Istanbul from the observation terrace.

The history of the Galata Tower

In 1348-49 it was built by the Genoese as the Christian Tower, marking the top of a fortress built to defend the independence of the Genoese colony of Galata from Constantinople. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the tower was partially destroyed but soon restored. Further damage happened due to an earthquake in 1509 and fires in 1794 and 1831.

From the 16th century, the Galata Tower served as a watchtower and, toward the end of the Ottoman Empire, as a fire watch, a function the tower held until the 1960s. Later it was privatized, renovated and opened for tourism.

The architecture of the Galata Tower

The tower is 48 meters above sea level and measures 67 meters to its conical top. With a thickness of more than three meters, the walls of the Galata Tower have a massive stability. Except for the round-arched windows on the two uppermost levels, there are only a few openings. They were probably intended for camouflage and guarding.

Visiting the Galata Tower

The Galata Tower has a total of nine floors. In the entrance hall, which houses a small souvenir store, two elevators are waiting to take visitors up to the seventh floor. From here, a wooden spiral staircase leads to the last two floors, where there is a restaurant with a magnificent 360-degree city panorama and access to the observation terrace.