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The Galata Tower (Turkish: Galata Kulesi), or with the current official name Galata Kulesi Museum (Turkish: Galata Kulesi Müzesi), is a tower in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is named after the quarter in which it's located, Galata. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the Walls of Galata, the tower is now an exhibition space and museum, and one of the symbols of Beyoğlu and Istanbul.

History
During the Byzantine period the Emperor Justinian had a tower erected in what was to become Galata. This tower was destroyed during the Fourth Crusade.

The famous Galata Tower of today was first built in 1348 in Romanesque style[1][2] as the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. At the time the Galata Tower, at 219.5 ft (66.9 m), was the tallest building in Constantinople.

After the Genoese colony was dismantled and the walls pulled down in 1453, the tower was used as a prison in the 16th century. It was from its roof that, in 1638, Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi strapped on wings and made the first intercontinental flight, landing in the Doğancılar Meydanı in Üsküdar on the Asian side of the city, a story of doubtful authenticity recounted by the Ottoman travel writer, Evliya Çelebi.

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