Maiden’s Tower, also known as Kız Kulesi and LEANDER’S TOWER. It is one of the tourist attractions of this city, which is located in the heart of the Bosphorus Strait. The fame of this tower is due to its storied history, which is full of failures.
To visit this historical tower, you can use the boats anchored in the Bosphorus Strait and have a meal in the restaurants of this tower.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at Burj Dokhtar at specific times and you must reserve a place for yourself in advance.
During the ancient Roman Empire, the island where the Maiden Tower is located was used as a customs house and a lighthouse tower.
Girl Tower was featured in one of the episodes of the James Bond series called The World Is Not Enough in 1999.
Part of the famous game Assassin’s Creed: Revelations takes place in this tower, and the main character of the game, Nicolo Polo, must create a complex structure in the lower part of the tower to hide the famous key of the game.
Characteristics of Virgo
This small building tower is built on an island in the middle of the Bosphorus strait, formerly known as Linder and Damalis.
This tower dates back to 1000 years ago and the time of Byzantine rule over Turkey.
Over time, this tower has had various uses. At one time it was a toll collection point, at another time it was a defense tower, and at another time it was used as a lighthouse.
In the 19th century, Girl Tower became a temporary hospital and radio station.
In the 21st century, Girl Tower is used as a museum, and a small restaurant has been built on top of it, which gives tourists a beautiful 360-degree view.
Above the only room of the tower, there is a stone dome with a high bar in the center.
The total height of the tower, including the pole, reaches 23 meters.
The body of the tower is made of concrete.
History of Girl Tower
Dokhtar Tower has become a symbol of Istanbul’s Skudar district today, which is the only remaining architectural work from the Byzantine era 1000 years ago.
Girl Tower was the first lighthouse in Istanbul. When the Eastern Roman Empire captured Istanbul, it named this tower Aclara, which means small castle.
When Constantinople was captured by the Ottomans, the original building of the tower was completely destroyed and a wooden structure was built in its place, which burned completely in 1719.
After that, one of the famous architects of Istanbul named Ebrahim Pasha Noshahri rebuilt this building with stone and added a glass kiosk and a lead-coated dome to the tower.
The signature of Sultan Mahmud II is engraved on the marble of this building by the famous calligrapher Rahim Ahmadi.
In 1957, a lighthouse was installed in this tower, which was converted into an automatic lighting system in 1921.
In 1946, the role changed to the Ministry of Defense.
After 18 years, it was handed over to marine companies.
After 5 years, the doors of this place were opened to the public, and now there is a museum in the neighborhood of Girl Tower, and a small restaurant has been built in the tower, which serves a variety of Turkish and international dishes.
Legends of the Maiden Tower
Many local stories about the background of this tower, the reason why it was named as Girl Tower, have circulated among the local people, and we will briefly share the most important ones with you in the rest of the article:
• The legend of the prince and the snake: The king of Constantinople had a beautiful daughter who was very interested in him. One day, a fortune teller gave the king the sad news that the princess was going to be bitten by a snake at the age of 18 and die. The king orders to build a tower on the island so that his daughter will be safe from snake bites. The princess lives in this tower and on her 18th birthday, the king brings a basket full of fruits to the princess, after opening it, a viper that was hidden among the fruits bites the prince and the princess dies. He dies before his father’s eyes.
• The legend of Hero and Linder: A beautiful and chaste girl named Hero swears to stay away from everyone for the rest of her life to maintain her chastity and live in the tower, but one day a man named Linder passed by the tower in a boat, and one day he died. Del falls in love with the girl and to get a positive answer from her, he swims to the island every night to see her.
Finally, seeing all these efforts, Hiro falls in love with her. One night when Hero, as is customary every night, ventures into the sea, he reaches the island, the weather is stormy and the sea is rough. Hero lights a lantern on the top of the tower so that Linder doesn’t lose his way in the waves, but the lantern goes out due to the storm. The next morning, when Hiro wakes up outside the tower, he encounters Linder’s cold and lifeless body at the bottom of the rocks, and because he couldn’t bear the pain, he throws himself from the top of the tower.
The legend of bravery called Batal: Batal was an Arab hero in the Umayyad period. After many parts of the lands of the Eastern Roman Empire were captured by the Ottomans. The fame of Batal’s bravery reached the ears of the Roman Empire, and for this reason, he sent his family and daughter to this tower. Batal, who was in love with the emperor’s daughter, as soon as he found out, took the emperor’s daughter from the tower and put her on his war horse, set the ships on fire and left the Bosphorus.
Information on visiting Girl Tower
Girl Tower is located in the Asian part of Istanbul and in the Skodar area. To visit Girl Tower, you need to go to Katalash Wharf and go to Girl Tower for free with the boats anchored at the wharf.
The boats are ready for service from 9 am to 9 pm and depart every quarter to half an hour.
You do not need to make a reservation to visit the tower, but to have breakfast, lunch or dinner in the tower, you must make a reservation in advance.
Entrance fee to Dokhtar tower museum: 25 lira
Visiting hours of Girl Tower: Saturday and Sunday at 10:45-18:45 and 20:15-12:30 in the morning
Visiting hours on other days: 9:1 – 18:45
