Galata Tower

In 1638, a man named Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi reportedly strapped on a pair of wings, launched himself from the top of this tower, and glided across the Bosphorus to land in Üsküdar on the Asian side — making what might have been the first intercontinental flight in history, two and a half centuries before the Wright brothers. The Ottoman sultan was initially impressed, then became nervous about a man with that kind of ambition, and exiled Çelebi to Algeria.

The Genoese built this nine-story stone tower in 1348, calling it the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ), and at 66.9 meters it was the tallest structure in the city for nearly four centuries. It anchored the Genoese colony of Galata, which operated as a semi-independent trading enclave with its own walls, laws, and considerable nerve — the Genoese managed to maintain neutrality during the Ottoman conquest of 1453, though they lost their colony anyway.

After the conquest, the Ottomans converted the tower to a fire watchtower, which made sense given that Istanbul was built almost entirely of wood and burned with depressing regularity. From the 1700s onward, watchmen stationed at the top would spot fires and alert the city by beating drums. The tower also served as a prison, and briefly as an observatory in the 16th century before an earthquake damaged the instruments.

Today, the tower's observation deck offers a full 360-degree panorama of Istanbul — the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, the old city skyline. On a clear day, you can trace the exact route Çelebi supposedly flew. Whether the story is fact or legend, you cannot stand at the top of this tower without thinking about it.