Category: Infrastructure
Type: Tower
Location: Salacak, Üsküdar
Date: BCE 410 and 1725
Designer: Unknown
Period: Ottoman Empire
Photos: Istanbul GoTürkiye, 2026 (istanbul.goturkiye.com); Tümertekin Architects
The Maiden’s Tower, or Kız Kulesi, is an iconic landmark situated on a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus, with a history spanning over 2,500 years from the Ancient Greek period to the Ottoman Empire. Originally established as a customs station and later used as a lighthouse, defense fortress, and quarantine station, the tower has undergone numerous architectural transformations, most notably during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, who gave the structure its recognizable neoclassical form with a stone-masonry body and a lead-covered dome. The current architecture features a reinforced structure following several historical fires and earthquakes, characterized by its elegant balcony and the wooden flagpole that rises above the lantern. Following a comprehensive restoration in 2023 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which aimed to strip away non-original concrete additions from the 1940s and return the tower to its 18th-century appearance, it now serves as a museum that preserves its legendary identity as a gateway between Europe and Asia.
