Galata Tower: Difference between revisions
imported>CoffeeRocks No edit summary |
imported>Master Sima Yi Nooohooo. No landmarks in the Locations category, that is why I created the "Constantinople" category. |
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The tower was rebuilt as ''Christea Turris'' (Latin for ''Tower of Christ, ''and however, many people still called it the Megàlos Pyrgos) in 1348, during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. It was the apex of the fortifications surrounding the Genoese citadel of Galata. The nine-story tower is 69.90 meters tall and it was the city's tallest structure when it was built. | The tower was rebuilt as ''Christea Turris'' (Latin for ''Tower of Christ, ''and however, many people still called it the Megàlos Pyrgos) in 1348, during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. It was the apex of the fortifications surrounding the Genoese citadel of Galata. The nine-story tower is 69.90 meters tall and it was the city's tallest structure when it was built. | ||
[[Category:Constantinople]] | [[Category:Constantinople]] | ||
Revision as of 12:06, 28 June 2011
The Galata Tower (Ottoman Turkish: Galata Kulesi) was a medieval stone tower located in the Galata district of Constantinople, north of the Golden Horn. One of the city's most striking landmarks, it was a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and affords a panoramic vista of old Constantinople and its environs.
History
The old tower of Galata
The old Tower of Galata (Greek: Megalos Pyrgos, literally Great Tower) was a tower, which stood on the north side of the Golden Horn in Constantinople , inside the citadel of Galata. The tower marked the northern end of the great chain, which was stretched across the mouth of the Golden Horn to prevent enemy ships from entering the harbor. The tower contained a mechanism for raising and lowering the chain.
The tower was largely destroyed by the Latin Crusaders during the Sack of Constantinople in1204, part of the Fourth Crusade, enabling them to enter the harbor and attack the city from the sea, where the walls were more easily scaled.
The present tower
The tower was rebuilt as Christea Turris (Latin for Tower of Christ, and however, many people still called it the Megàlos Pyrgos) in 1348, during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. It was the apex of the fortifications surrounding the Genoese citadel of Galata. The nine-story tower is 69.90 meters tall and it was the city's tallest structure when it was built.