Maiden's Tower
A Tower On An Islet At The Southern Mouth Of The Bosphorus, Used As A Toll Point, Quarantine Station And Lighthouse; Restored And Reopened To Visitors In 2023 · Istanbul, Istanbul
A small tower stands on a rock at the southern mouth of the Bosphorus, a couple of hundred metres off Uskudar, and it has been there in some form for well over two thousand years - as an Athenian toll point, a Byzantine watchtower, an Ottoman quarantine station, a lighthouse and for a while a radio mast. The present building is largely eighteenth and nineteenth century. The name means Maiden's Tower and comes with the usual story: a sultan told his daughter would die of a snakebite puts her on an island, and the snake arrives in a basket of fruit. It closed for a long restoration and reopened in 2023 with a small museum, a cafe and a terrace, and boats run out to it from Salacak and Kabatas. Be clear about the scale - this is a tower on a rock, and the point of going is the view back at the city from the middle of the water, and the crossing itself is half of it. Check the last boat back before you go.
Salacak Mahallesi, Kiz Kulesi, Uskudar, Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkiye
Reopened to visitors in 2023 after restoration, with a museum, cafe and terrace inside. Boats run from Salacak in Uskudar and from Kabatas through the day, with the last return earlier than people expect. ARRANGEMENTS ARE NEW SINCE THE REOPENING - ticketing, boat piers and hours have all changed and older accounts describe a building that was shut. Rough weather stops the boats.