Galata Tower

The slightly sloped section stretching from Tunel to the shores of Halic is called Galata due to the Galata Tower. Galata Tower has dominated Beyoglu skyline since 1348 and still offers the best panoramic views of the city. Until the 1960s Galata tower was a fire lookout tower. Now the upper floors hold an uninteresting restaurant-nightclub, and a panorama balcony. The panorama balcony is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm (7 pm in summer). The entrance fee is 7 YTL, roughly 5 USD. There is a lift which helps you to climb the first 7 floors and up there you need to climb two more floors to visit the panorama balcony. When you open the door to the balcony, a strong wind is welcoming you and a small shock, you were not expecting to be that high. But the marvelous 360 degree view, will soon let you enjoy its beauty. Galata Tower is 61 meter tall, and 140 meter above sea level. The diameter of the tower is 8,95 meter, where wall thickness is 3,75 meters.

History of the tower: During the reign of Byzantines, Genoese conquered the region, which stood at opposite shores of old Istanbul, and they decided to build a tower. Their aim was to surround the region with walls and they wanted to build a watchtower in the middle of the wall for defense purposes. At the time, they named the Tower "Jesus Tower." The tower originally had a spire and a large cross on its top.

The Galata Tower did not only serve for defense purposes and as a watchtower, but it was also a part of the communication system, which had been built by Romans and then inherited by the Byzantines. People used to communicate by building fires at high and easily seen places. Therefore, the most important communication centers of Istanbul were the mountain of Bulgurlu, Fenerbahce, Galata Tower and Sarayburnu. Galata Tower, which captures our attention by its non-Islamic architecture, became famous in the Islamic world when Hazerfen Ahmet Celebi flew from, the Tower to Uskudar with the help of artificial wings. In 1794, however, the spire of the fire-damaged tower, was opened and the building was restored in an architecturally rather different style.