Just 15 minutes away from our apartment, hiding in plain site, is the Galata Tower. It's old, it's iconic, and it's expensive. Nevertheless, we paid our dues to take the spiffy elevator up nearly 200 feet to see the panorama. It was originally built by the Genoese in 1348 as part of the fortifications of the Byzantine Empire. The plaque on the tower emphasizes the surrender of the tower in 1453 to Fatih Sultan Mehmet.
We took way too many photos from the balcony of the tower. Here are just a few...
A closeup of the old stone of the tower's balcony
In the foreground there is the Golden Horn (Haliç), Topkapı Sarayı is in the middle, the Sea of Mamara is just beyond and the shore of Asia is in the background.
Looking down from the tower to the south, there are the remains of the rest of the fortifications still standing in the neighborhood.
To the west, the city stretches on to the horizon (and beyond)!
To the northeast, there are the neighborhoods of Tophane, Cihangir, the Bosphorus, the first Bosphorus bridge, and the Asian side.
For the other 40 photos we took from the tower, see our Picasa site :)
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