by Elizabeth Coughlan

Created on: September 03, 2010

A small tower stands on a tiny rocky island at the mouth of the Bosphorus, just off Istanbul's Asian shore. Known locally as the Maiden's Tower (Kiz Kulesi in Turkish), it has guarded the Bosphorus, and illuminated the way for sailors over the centuries. Today, there are more modern methods of navigation, but the tower continues to intrigue visitors to Istanbul. There is often confusion over the name of the tower. In the ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine eras, it was known as Leander's Tower, for reasons that will become apparent.

The Athenian General, Alcibiades, built the first tower on the islet, 2,500 years ago. Its purpose was to monitor the movement of Persian ships in the strait. A chain was strung across the Bosphorus from the tower to the opposite bank, as a customs checkpoint for shipping negotiating the narrow waterway. Much later, in 1110, the Byzantine Emperor, Alexius Comnenus redesigned the tower and made it into a fortress.

During the Ottoman Empire, the tower was modified several times again, notably in 1509 and 1763. Interestingly, during the cholera epidemic of 1830, it was used to quarantine cholera sufferers, to prevent the epidemic from spreading into the city. The last alterations to the tower took place in 1998, and it finally opened to the public in the year 2000. It now has a restaurant on the ground floor, and a cafe at the top with stunning views of the Bosphorus, and Sultanahmet (old Istanbul) across the water. Before these renovations were completed, scenes from the James Bond movie, "The World is Not Enough", was filmed there.

There are two very different legends about this enigmatic tower, one of Greek and the other of Turkish origin, which are the cause of the confusion in its name. The Greek legend speaks of two lovers, Hero (a virgin priestess of Aphrodite) and a young man called Leander. They became lovers, but Hero was banished to a tower to prevent them from meeting. Leander, who lived on the opposite bank. used to swim across the water guided by the light of a lamp that Hero left burning. In this way, the lovers continued to meet. One stormy night, the wind and rain put out the lamp, and Leader lost his way and drowned. Upon finding his shirt in the water the next day, Hero drowned herself too, and they were united in death. The only problem with naming the tower after Leander, is that, according to ancient Greek Legends, he swum across the Hellespont to meet his love, and this is much further south, in the Dardanelles.

For the Turks, the tower will always be called (Kiz Kulesi) the Maiden's Tower. The Turkish legend tells of a Byzantine Sultan who had a very beautiful and beloved daughter. When an oracle prophesied that she would die of snakebite, he kept her in the tower, to protect her, and ordered that every snake in the vicinity should be killed. Sadly, a wily serpent  managed to crawl into a basket of fruit that was to be delivered to her. She died of its venomous bite on her eighteenth birthday, exactly as the prophet had described.

Today, the Maiden's Tower is a popular venue for romantic dinners, summer weddings, corporate dinners, and other significant events. The 360° panoramic view from the top is breath-taking, even on a rainy day. Singers have sung about it, poets have written about it, artists have painted it, and millions have photographed it, but still the little tower in the Bosphorus continues to enchant everyone who sees it.

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