Maiden's Tower
The Maiden's Tower ( Turkish Kiz Kulesi , "Maiden Tower") is a lighthouse dating from the 18th century, located in Istanbul about 180 meters in front of Üsküdar on a small island in the Bosporus . It is one of the city's landmarks .
One end of the large chain is said to have been attached here, which is said to have been stretched across the Bosporus during the attacks on Byzantium . The other end was attached to a tower in the Mangana Palace . However, it is not reported how the chain was held on the surface of the water. Over time, the tower served as a lighthouse, optical telegraph, quarantine station, customs house and retirement home for naval officers. Today it houses a restaurant. Its current appearance dates back to the late 18th century.
Naming
The European name “Maiden's Tower” goes back to an ancient material that is not located in the Bosphorus but in the Dardanelles : According to tradition, Leander swam to his beloved hero every night through the Hellespont , until one night the torch that led him pointed, was extinguished. He lost his bearings and drowned. When Hero found her dead lover on the bank, she threw herself into the water too.
The Turkish name "Maiden's Tower" is derived from the legend of a princess who was predicted to die by poison by a fortune teller and who was then locked in the tower by her father. There she was bitten and killed by a snake that had come to her in a fruit basket. A similar legend is told in numerous places and islands, not only in Turkey , including the Girls' Castle ( Kız kalesi ) in the southern Turkish town of Kızkalesi .
Movie
The tower appears in the finale of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough , where it serves as a hiding place for Bond's opponent Elektra King ( Sophie Marceau ). However, the interior shots with the actors were made at or in a replica in Pinewood Studios.
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 1 ′ 16 ″ N , 29 ° 0 ′ 15 ″ E