Assalamualaikum guys, Today we will be going to the Maidens tower in Istanbul
Kizkulesi is located off the coast of Salacak neighborhood in Üsküdar district, at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus. It literally means "Maiden's Tower" in Turkish. The name comes from a legend: the Byzantine emperor heard a prophecy telling him that his beloved daughter would die at the age of 18 by a snake. So he decided to put her in this tower built on a rock on the Bosphorus isolated from the land thus no snake could kill her. But she couldn't escape from her destiny after all, a snake hidden in a fruit basket brought from the city bit the princess and killed her.
Another legend wrongly mentions Hero and Leander in the tower, therefore some people wrongly call it "Leander's Tower", a sad love story told by Ovidius: Hero was one of the priestess of Aphrodite living in the tower. One day she left the tower to attend a ceremony in the temple where she met Leandros and they fall in love with each other. Leandros swam to the tower every night to visit his love, meanwhile she was holding a torch to guide him in the dark waters towards her in the tower. But on a stormy night Leandros couldn't see the light because it was put out by the winds, and he swam all night loosing his way until he was drowned. Hero, seeing that her lover died, she also jumped into the water and suicided. Some people narrate this love story as it was happened on the Bosphorus, but in fact it's a legend from the Dardanelles
Kizkulesi is dating back to the 5th century BC when it was built by the Athenian general Alcibiades on a rock at the entrance of the Bosphorus for the surveillance of the waterway. A chain was pulled from the land to the tower to make it a checkpoint and customs area for the ships going through. After several restorations in wood and stone, Emperor Alexius Comnenos built a strong defense tower in the 12th century AD calling it Arcla, meaning "Small Tower". The tower was used as a lighthouse and control tower also during the Ottoman period after the Conquest of Constantinople. Final restoration was done in 1998 and opened as a restaurant after spending around 3million US dollars. The tower was featured in one of the James Bond movies in 1999; "The world is not enough", where the terrorists placed a nuclear submarine underneath the tower to be exploded in the heart of the city and where "M" (Judi Dench) was imprisoned by an oil tycoon's daughter (Sophie Marceu) which Bond (Pierce Brosnan) had to kill her. Today, Kizkulesi is a very popular and classy restaurant and cafeteria-bar. It offers 360 degree views of the Bosphorus and the old city, especially at night. There are several shuttle boats going to the tower at certain times from Kabatas neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul and from Salacak neighborhood on the Asian side. It's also a popular place for summer time weddings. The tower is closed on Mondays.
The interesting story about the Maiden Tower is that there was a young man
Leon Rose fell in love with a nurse named Hera.
and every night Hera lit a fire for
driving to his beloved small island.
However, one night the fire went out due to a storm and
Leon Rose got lost and drowned in the Bosporus.
Here in this tower, the beloved daughter of the Byzantine Emperor also resides.
A young man fell in love with the princess, and one day
I prepared a flower brush to present to the princess.
But a snake was hiding
Inside the flower, and bit the princess, causing her to die.
There is also the story of Batalgazi, who fell in love
To the daughter of the Governor of Uskudar.
Then the governor imprisoned his daughter.
In this tower, Batalgazi heard about it and launched an attack.
The tower and fled away with the governor's daughter.
The story of Afliya Selebi took place during the Ottoman era.
Selebi wrote that there was a holy person who lived
In the tower of the Virgin during the time of Sultan Bayezid.
Right, so this is the Maiden Tower, yeah,
And basically, you can see the entire skyline over there.
Clear information about the existence of this man-made structure
from the 12th century, from the stones of Uskudar Beach
Records reveal that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel
Komnenos I had two defensive towers built.
on the Marmara side of the Bosporus.
One of them is this maiden tower location.
who now stands here and who is present
The others are located at the shore of Sarai Burnu.
We also know today that there is a long chain
Among these towers, to prevent smuggling via sea.
Byzantine historians also recorded that
Sultan Usmania Orhan came to Uskudar and Orhan's father-in-law,
Kentaku Zenos
Come to the Maiden Tower to send an envoy to Sultan Orhan.
There is information about the Venetian Navy forces that used
This place served as a base during the conquest of Constantinople.
After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed...
The Conqueror built a castle.
On the rocks where the Maiden's Tower is now located.
The first clear information about the Maiden's Tower
is about the presence of a man-made structure
On the rocks ashore, Uskudar dates back to the 12th century.
The records reveal that the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos I had
two defensive towers built on the Marmara side of the Bosphorus
One of them was the location where the Maiden's Tower now stands,
and the other one was on the shore of Sarayburnu now.
We also know that today there was even a chain extended between
These two towers to prevent smuggling by sea.
Byzantine chroniclers
also noted that the Ottoman Sultan Orhan came to Uskudar
and that Orhan's father-in-law, Kantakuzenos, came to the maiden's
tower from the opposite side to send envoys to Sultan Orhan.
There is information.
on a Venetian naval squadron, having used this place
as the starting point of the time of the conquest of Constantinople.
After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror had
a castle built on the rock where the Maiden's Tower now stands
Thank you
Thank you for watching!
Thank you
It's already there, but it belongs to China, isn't it?
High price
for
Hi!
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two
so
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