Galata Tower

During the Byzantine period the Emperor Justinian had a tower erected in what was to become Galata. This tower was destroyed by the Crusaders during the Sack of Constantinople in 1204.

In 1267 a Genoese colony was established in the Galata part of Constantinople. 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^[1][3] in 1348 during an expansion of the colony. At the time the Galata Tower, at 219.5 ft (66.9 m), was the tallest building in the city.^[4]

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; though small parts of the Genoese walls in Galata have survived.^[5][6][7] 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 on the Asian side of the city, a story of doubtful authenticity recounted by the Ottoman travel writer, Evliya Çelebi.

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.

The tower's conical roof was removed in the 19th century.^[8][9] It remained without this roof for the rest of the Ottoman period, but approximately a century later, during restoration works between 1965 and 1967, the conical roof was reconstructed.^[8][9] At the same time, the tower's wooden interior was replaced with a concrete structure and it was opened to the public.^[10][11]

In 2020, the Tower was restored then reopened as a museum now open for the public and tourists.^[12]

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.^[13]

The tower is mainly popular for the 360-degree view of Istanbul visible from its observation deck.

Panoramic view from the observation deck of the Galata Tower during the late Ottoman period

View of the Golden Horn and the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu) from Galata Tower

The nine-story tower is 62.59 m (205.3 ft) tall, excluding the ornament on the top. The observation deck is at 51.65 m (169.5 ft). The tower is 61 m (200 ft) above sea-level. It has an external diameter of 16.45 m (54.0 ft) at the base, an inside diameter of 8.95 m (29.4 ft), and walls that are 3.75 m (12.3 ft) thick.

According to some sources, the conical roof of Galata Tower was destroyed by a storm in 1875,^[14] but photographs taken by foreign travelers such as James Robertson, Ernest De Caranza and Francis Bedford in the 19th century have revealed that the conical roof, which existed in 1854,^{[15][17][18][19]} was removed by 1862.^[15][16] The photo taken by Francis Bedford on 21 May 1862^[15][16] reveals that there were ongoing reparation (or modification) works in 1862, and the flag pole on top was also temporarily missing.^[15][16] Either the "storm in 1875" had actually happened earlier, c. 1862,^[15][16] or the uppermost part of the tower was simply modified or reconstructed c. 1862.^[15][16] Another probability is that the conical roof which was reconstructed c. 1862 might have been destroyed a few years later by a storm in 1875.^[14]

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  Galata Tower after Cristoforo Buondelmonti, 1420s or 1430s
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  Galata Tower after Cristoforo Buondelmonti, late 1480s
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  Galata Tower and Pera by Matrakçı Nasuh, 1537
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  Galata Tower and Pera by Jérôme Maurand, 1544
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  Galata Tower by Paul Lucas, 1720
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  Galata Tower by Cosimo Comidas, 1794
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  Galata Tower by Antoine Ignace Melling, 1819
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  Galata Tower by Augustin François Lemaître [fr], 1840
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  Galata Tower by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1846
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  Albumen print of the Galata Tower by Pascal Sébah, between 1875 and 1886
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  Remote view of Galata Tower
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  Eastern side
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  Galata Tower at night
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  Galata Tower, view from Karaköy

• Anadoluhisarı and Rumelihisarı
• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century
• Galata Tower Hotels
• Google Arts Culture