The Maiden’s Tower: legend and history
A tower on a rock off Üsküdar, a princess and a snake, and nine centuries of watching the strait.
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On a tiny islet about 200 metres off Üsküdar stands Istanbul’s most romantic landmark. In Turkish it is Kız Kulesi, the Maiden’s Tower.
Nine centuries on a rock
In 1110 the Byzantine emperor Alexios Komnenos built a tower here; a chain is said to have run from it to the European shore. Under the Ottomans the tower was damaged by an earthquake in 1509 and by fire in 1721, and in 1763 it was rebuilt in stone. It has served as a watchtower, a lighthouse and, more recently, a café and restaurant.
Two legends
The best-known story tells of a ruler warned that his daughter would die of a snakebite. He shut her away in the tower to keep her safe — but a snake, hidden in a basket of fruit, reached her all the same.
Its other name, Leander’s Tower, borrows a Greek myth: Leander swam across the water each night to his love Hero, until a storm put out the lamp that guided him.
Visiting today
After a restoration that began in 2021, the tower reopened to visitors in May 2023. It is reached by boat from the shore. On a Bosphorus cruise it is usually the last landmark before the pier — at its best with the sunset behind it.