Today, as we are still walking in Istanbul, we shall see Galata Tower or how it is translated Christ Tower from Latin Christea Turris. This tower was built in 1348 by Genoese. There used to be another tower that was destroyed when Constantinople(old name of Istanbul) was sacked during the crusades in 1204, but let’s go.

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We can also enjoy a coffee and a great view from the tower, as you can see here. From here you can almost see all the city. The view is beautiful. We are at 51.65 m, but the tower is a bit longer. The 51.65 m is just for the observation point. The tower’s total height is 66.90m, and when it was built, it was actually the tallest building in the city. The tower elevation is 35 m above the sea, it was built to replace the old tower situated in another place, but it was, as I told you earlier, destroyed in the time of the crusaders. The actual building we are in was built in Romanesque style when the Genoese colonies were expanding.

Some brothers tried and succeeded in actually flying from this tower, which was somewhere around the 17 century. This story is told by a known traveler of that time, Evliya Çelebi.

One of the brothers Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi, flew using artificial wings from this tower. Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi later passed with a 7 winged rocket using 50 okka of gunpowder from the point below Topkapi palace. He flew in the day when the sultan’s daughter would be borne. Our traveler says that Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi said to the sultan, “O my sultan! Be blessed, I am going to talk to Jesus!”; after ascending in the rocket, he landed in the sea, swimming ashore and joking, “O my sultan! Jesus sends his regards to you!”. The sultan rewarded him with silver and ranked him as a spahi in the Ottoman army.

The history of this tower was later used as a fire tower; unfortunately, the tower itself didn’t escape the fire. The roof was made of lead and wood, the stairs were severely damaged in a fire. In 1831 another fire damaged the tower, a restoration took place. Besides fires, the tower also confronted storms, a bad one for the building was in 1875 when the conical roof on the top was destroyed. The roof was restored many years later. In 1960 during another restoration, the wooden interior will be replaced with a concrete structure. It will be open for the public to visit, so we can enjoy it and enjoy the beautiful view. So take my hand and let’s enjoy it.

I hope you enjoyed my little story! The pictures are not mine.