GALATA TOWER
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It is one of the city's most famous and visible monuments, located on Galata Hill in the heart of Beyoğlu. The enemy of the time was Venice, to such an extent that John VI Cantacuzene accepted the Genoese request to build a tower in 1348. Designed as the main tower of the Galata fortifications and 68 m high, it offers an exceptional panoramic view of the historic city. Beheaded from its top two floors after the conquest of the city in 1453, the tower was used as a prison under Mehmed II the Conqueror. Shaken by the 1509 earthquake, the fortifications and tower were restored by the architect Hayrettin. It is found in the roles of observatory and fire tower. Ravaged by a fire in 1794, it was once again taken in hand and was given a new floor and a new headdress. It is from the top of this tower, it is said, that Hazerfan Ahmet Çelebi set off in the 18th century, equipped with two large wings that he had made, succeeding in landing, not on the other side of the Bosporus as the legend says, but probably on the other side of the Golden Horn. For a time impressed by this feat, the sultan, under religious pressure who did not see it with a very positive eye, exiled Çelebi to the borders of the Empire. Refurbished between 1965 and 1967, the tower has become one of the city's main tourist attractions. At its top is the panoramic restaurant of the Beltur chain. The view is simply exceptional!
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