The Maiden's Tower
Kız Kulesi
Seen from Üsküdar
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
General information
Type	Observation tower Broadcasting tower
Location	Bosporus, Istanbul, Turkey
Coordinates	41°01′16.2″N 29°00′15.3″ECoordinates: 41°01′16.2″N 29°00′15.3″E
Construction started	1725
Completed	1725
Opening	1725
Owner	City of Istanbul, Turkey
Management	Kız Kulesi, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality BELTUR
Technical details
Floor count	5[1]
Lifts/elevators	1[1]

 

Maiden's Tower and the Seraglio Point

 

Map of Constantinople (1422) by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti, showing Pera at the north of the Golden Horn, Constantinople at south, and the Maiden's Tower at right, in the sea, off the coast of Üsküdar on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.

 

Maiden's Tower at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus, with the Seraglio Point in the background.

 

Maiden's Tower on the reverse of the 10 lira banknote (1966–1981)

The Maiden's Tower (Turkish: Kız Kulesi), also known as Leander's Tower (Tower of Leandros) since the medieval Byzantine period, is a tower on a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait, 200 m (220 yd) from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey.

The tower appeared on the reverse of the Turkish 10 lira banknote from 1966 to 1981.^[2]

History[edit]

After the naval victory at Cyzicus, in 408 BC the Athenian general Alcibiades probably built a custom station for ships coming from the Black Sea on a small rock in front of Chrysopolis (today's Üsküdar).^[3]

In 1110 Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus built a wooden tower protected by a stone wall.^[3] From the tower an iron chain stretched across to another tower erected on the European shore, at the quarter of Mangana in Constantinople.^[3] The islet was then connected to the Asiatic shore through a defense wall, whose underwater remains are still visible.^[3] During the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, the tower held a Byzantine garrison commanded by the Venetian Gabriele Trevisano.^[3] Subsequently, the structure was used as a watchtower by the Ottoman Turks during the reign of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.^[3]

The tower was destroyed during the earthquake of 1509, rebuilt, and then burned down in 1721.^[3] Reconstruction was ordered by the grand vizier Damad Ibrahim Pasha and the new building was used as a lighthouse; the surrounding walls were repaired in 1731 and 1734. Finally in 1763 the tower was reconstructed in more durable stone.^[3] From 1829 it was used as a quarantine station before being restored again by Sultan Mahmud II in 1832.^[3] In 1945 it was the turn of the harbour authority to patch it up.^[3] Then in 1998 it was restored again for the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

After the 17 August 1999 earthquake and tsunami in the Sea of Marmara steel supports were added to the tower to strengthen it. ^[4] The interior was converted into a café and restaurant, with views of the former Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman capital at Sarayburnu.^[5] Private boats ply back and forth between the tower and the shore throughout the day.^[6]

In 2021 work on restoring the tower yet again started. Once it is completed there may no longer be a restaurant inside it. ^[7]