Galata Tower is the Istanbul landmark built by Genoese settlers in 1348–1349 as a nine-story stone tower.
The tower was constructed in the Galata district, then a Genoese colony across the Golden Horn from Constantinople. It replaced an earlier Byzantine tower known as the Tower of Christ and formed part of the colony’s fortifications.
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the building served several purposes, including a prison and an observation post. In the 17th century, Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi was famously reported to have flown from the tower across the Bosporus, although this account comes from the later travel writer Evliya Çelebi.
The tower’s conical roof and elevated position make it one of Istanbul’s most recognizable landmarks. It is often confused with Maiden’s Tower, which stands on a small islet in the Bosporus and has a very different history.