About Maiden’s Tower
Maiden’s Tower stands on a rock in the Bosphorus, about 200 metres off the Asian shore at Üsküdar, where the strait opens towards the Sea of Marmara. There has been a tower on the islet since Byzantine times, and over the centuries it has served as a watchtower, a lighthouse, and a quarantine station during a cholera epidemic around 1830.
What you see today is Ottoman. After a fire, the tower was rebuilt in stone in 1763, and in 1832, under Sultan Mahmud II, it was restored; the lighthouse lantern followed later in the century. A long restoration finished in 2023, and the tower reopened to visitors, who reach it by small boat from the shore.
The Turkish name, Kız Kulesi, comes from a legend. A sultan was told that his daughter would die from a snakebite, so he shut her away in a tower in the sea. On her birthday a basket of fruit was sent across, a snake was hidden inside, and the prophecy came true. In Western languages it is also called Leander’s Tower, after the Greek story of Hero and Leander, though that tale is set in the Dardanelles.
From the shore at Salacak the tower is one of the classic Istanbul views, with the domes and minarets of the old city behind it, especially at sunset.
The diorama
Unlike most of our dioramas, this one is not a floating island but a cut-out block of sea: the water surface on top, and on the cut faces a deep blue cross-section with rocks hanging below and fish swimming past. The islet is a ring of boulders around a stone quay with a parapet, and on it stands a white two-storey building with arched windows, a hipped lead roof and two small domes.
The tower rises at one end of the quay: a white square body with stone corner quoins, an octagonal drum with tall windows and a railed gallery, the glazed lantern, the pointed lead cap and a gold crescent finial. At night the lantern shines, floodlights pick out the walls, and the lit tower throws a warm, wavering reflection on the water.
Things to spot
- Two dolphins taking turns to jump
- A ferry and two fishing boats circling the islet, each with a wake
- A boat tied up at the wooden landing stage
- Café parasols and people walking around the quay
- The Turkish flag flapping by the tower
- Gulls circling the lantern
What we simplified
- The shoreline of Üsküdar and the city skyline are left out; the tower floats in a square of open sea.
- The quay and the buildings are tidied into simple shapes, and the boats are generic rather than the real Istanbul ferries.
Questions
Where is the Maiden’s Tower?
The Maiden’s Tower stands on a small islet in the Bosphorus, about 200 metres off the Asian shore at Salacak in Üsküdar, where the strait opens towards the Sea of Marmara.
Why is it called the Maiden’s Tower?
The name comes from a legend: a sultan, told that his daughter would die from a snakebite, shut her away in a tower in the sea, but a snake hidden in a basket of fruit sent on her birthday fulfilled the prophecy. In Western languages it is also called Leander’s Tower.
When was the Maiden’s Tower built?
A tower has stood on the islet since Byzantine times. The present tower was rebuilt in stone in 1763 after a fire and restored in 1832 under Sultan Mahmud II.
Can you visit the Maiden’s Tower?
Yes. The Maiden’s Tower reopened in 2023 after a long restoration as a museum and café, and visitors reach it by small boat from the shore.
How was this pixel-art diorama of the Maiden’s Tower made?
Unlike most of our dioramas, it is a cut-out block of sea rather than a floating island. It is a real-time Three.js scene running on this page, drawn at 360 × 640 pixels with dark outlines and a small palette, then scaled up without smoothing. Press “Explore in 3D” to drag it round and switch between day, dusk and night.
Isometric maps of Istanbul
Istanbul also has 2 isometric pixel-art maps made by the community: the whole city drawn tile by tile in the same SimCity-like style. See the maps of Istanbul →
