The Galata Tower, or the Galata Tower Museum, as it was called after it began to be used as a museum, is a tower located in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. It takes its name from the Galata district where it is located. Built as a watchtower within the Galata Walls, the tower serves as an exhibition space and museum as of 2020, after being used for different purposes in different periods. It is one of the symbolic structures of both Beyoğlu and Istanbul.
The Genoese, who were in alliance with the Byzantine Empire, established a colony called "Pera" in Galata, north of the Golden Horn, in 1267, and expanded the dominance of this colony with the permissions granted by Byzantium. The tower, which was called the "Holy Cross Tower" (Turris Sancte Crucis) at that time because of the cross on its top, was built as a part of the fortification made in the region between 1335 and 1349 by increasing its dominance towards the hill in the northeast direction, contrary to these permissions. The war that broke out that year between the two states ended with the treaty signed the following year, while the hill where the tower was located was left to Genoese control. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire on May 29, 1453, the Genoese in Pera handed over the colony to the Ottomans without any resistance. Although some damage was done in the fortification in Galata, including the tower, the Ottoman Sultan II. With the edict of Mehmed, the destruction of the tower was stopped and the destroyed parts were rebuilt. The tower, which was damaged in the earthquake in 1509, was repaired by 1510. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the prisoner of war and supply warehouse was used as a fire tower by the Mehterhane Hearth and fire watchers by the 18th century.
While the design of the tower was changed during the repairs made after the fire in 1794, the upper part was turned into a coffee house. After the fire in 1831, its design was changed once again. After the roof collapsed in a storm in 1875, two wooden floors of masonry were raised above the top floor, and this part was used for monitoring and reporting the fires in the city. With the restoration work between 1965-1967, the tower was arranged as a touristic structure serving different purposes, while the roof of the tower was renewed similar to the design between 1832-1876. In this period, it was leased from Istanbul Municipality and started to be operated by the company belonging to Ünal Brothers and his heirs in the following period. In 1999-2000, a restoration was carried out on the exterior. In 2013, BELTUR, a subordinate of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, took over the business. In this period, there were a cafe and a restaurant on the top two floors of the tower. In the same year, it was included in the World Heritage Tentative List by UNESCO. In 2019, its ownership and operation passed to the General Directorate of Foundations. After the works carried out in 2020, the tower was organized as a museum and exhibition space.
The cylindrical body of the Romanesque style masonry tower, which is 62.59 m high to the tip of its roof, is made of stone. It has 11 floors, including a basement, ground floor and mezzanine. While there is an elevator between the ground floor and the sixth floor, there are stone stairs from the ground floor to the fourth floor, and steel construction stairs from the sixth to the eighth floor. The cone-shaped roof covering its top is reinforced concrete. Today, the ground floor of the tower serves as a ticket control and security point, and the entrance to the elevator that reaches up to the sixth floor is also located here. While the first floor is the museum store, the next three floors are the simulation area with a screen showing an animation of Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi's gliding from the Galata Tower, and the works about the period when the tower was used by Takiyüddin; Photographs of the War of Independence; Information and works of Galata Tower and Walls; They are permanent museum and exhibition areas where works related to the Galata Tower and Istanbul are located. On the seventh floor, which is the temporary exhibition area after the sixth floor, which is a transition area, there is a model showing a part of Istanbul and viewing binoculars located in front of the windows, while the eighth floor is arranged as a viewing terrace. The exterior of the tower and the area surrounding the tower are used for raising awareness, commemoration or celebration on some special and certain days.
