İSTANBUL

The Maiden’s Tower

The Maiden’s Tower is located 150-200 meters off the shore of the Salacak

district in Üsküdar. Although it is not definite as to when the Maiden’s

Tower was built, the tower’s architectural style is said by some

sources to be from around 340 BCE.

• Previous names of the Maiden’s Tower were Damalis and Leandros. Damalis is the name of the wife of the king of Athens,Kharis. When Damalis died, she was buried on the shore, and the name Damalis was given to the Tower. It was also known during Byzantine times as “arcla” which means a little castle.

• After the conquest of Istanbul, the existing tower on the island is destroyed and a wooden tower is built instead. In 1719 this wooden tower became ash with fire. It was rebuilt from stone once again by the head architect of the city, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa.

• The upper part of the tower is changed and a glass-covered mansion is added to the upper side and a dome covered with lead is added on it.

• Rakım Efendi, Famous calligrapher, added an inscription with Sultan Mahmut II’s signature on marble and placed it above tower’s door. A lantern was added to the tower in 1857, and in 1920, the tower’s light was a converted into an automatic lighting system.

• The Maiden’s Tower has been used for many different purposes over time, such as a tax collection area from merchantman, a defense tower, and a lighthouse.

• The tower, which was also used as a sea lighthouse for a while after the Republic, is transferred to the Ministry of Defense in 1964 and to the Maritime Businesses in 1982.

• Today, after being restored by a private company, it has been opened to the public as a restaurant.

The legends of the Maiden’s Tower

The Princess Legend

Once upon a time, a soothsayer makes the prediction to theKing that his daughter will die as a result of a snakebite. Theking who loves her builds a tower in the middle of the sea toprotect her daughter and places her in this tower. The snakebite and girl die. The prediction made by the soothsayer wasinevitably.

The Legend of Leandros

According to this legend, a young man named Leandros falls in love with a nun named Hero who is faithful to Afrodit. However, as a nun, falling in love with someone is taboo for Hero. Hero lives in the Maiden’s Tower. Every night, Hero builds a fire in the tower so that Leandros may find his way to her by swimming to the tower. Thus, they meet every night. One night, however,the bonfire started by Hero is put out by a storm, That very night, Leandros loses his own way in the cold waters of the Bosphorus and dies. When Hero hears of what happened to Leandros, she cannot endure the pain and commits suicide.

PREPARED BYEZGİ BİLHAN