Istanbul's city pictures almost always
include "Kiz Kulesi". "Kiz Kulesi" is called in
English Maiden's Tower or Leander's Tower. The Maiden's
Tower is located on a small islet at a very short distance
from the shores of the district "Uskudar" in the Asian
side of the city. It can be seen from Topkapi Palace,
Dolmabahçe Palace, Ortakoy distric and many other
interesting places of Istanbul.
According to a Turkish legend a
princess was locked up in the tower by her
father because of a prophecy. The prophecy
alerted him saying that his daughter would die
by the bite of a snake. The father wanted to
protect the princess and put her in the Maiden's
tower. Unfortunately at the end of the story,
the princess dies by the snake that was brought
to the islet in a basket of grapes.
The Leander's Tower is the other
name you will come across for the same place.
There is a legend which has taken place in the
city of Abydos in the straight of Dardanelles
but somehow mistakenly related to the Maiden's
Tower. Leander tried to see his lover Hero and
attempted to cross the straight and drowns.
In the 12th century, the emperor
Manuel Comnenus has built a small fortress where
the tower is located. He wanted to tie a chain
to close the Bosphorus straight. The other end
of the chain was tied to Tower of Mangana.
Until today the tower is used as
a lighthouse, semaphore station, quarantine,
customs control area, and home for retired naval
officers. The building that you can see today
dates back to 18th century.
