Galata Tower
I can say that Galata Tower is Eiffel Tower in France for Istanbul. When you see any movie or advertisement about Istanbul, then you have already seen Galata Tower, since it is one of the iconic visuals of Istanbul. It has 219ft (66.90 meters) height.
Byzantines constructed the tower around 507 CE. For Byzantines, it was The Great Tower and Tower of Christ. Through out the history, it has used as fire observatory and prison.
After many use of purposes, now the tower serves as a touristic attraction only. In a large majority of a day, there is a huge line to go up to the tower but if you go there early in the morning you do not have to wait long line to go up and generally you do not need to wait a long time to go up. The view Galata Tower has is totally worth to see. It has a spectacular 360-degree view of Istanbul from the balcony. Fortunately, there is a elevator which makes it easy to go up. Jus one part, you need to climb up a bit but you are young!
There is a long history behind the tower but there is one story which every Turk knows.
Once upon a time, a aviator whose name is Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi lives in Ottoman Empire. He is ambitious and young aviator. One day, he flows from the top of the Galata Tower to Doğancılar Square in Üsküdar with wings! Because of what he has done, he is sent to exile in Algeria by comment of Sultan Murad Khan.
This story is written by Evliya Çelebi. No one knows whether it is true story or not but to find it out you need to go there and see with you own eyes whether it is possible or not.
Open: 9am-9pm(summer)
It may be changed.
If you wanna see a great view of Galata like the first picture on the post, I strongly recommend you take ferry from Sirkeci. Since it is super close to Eminönü and Karaköy, you can go there before or afterward.
To go to SirkeciFerry.
There are many good cafes next to Galata Tower.
-Galata Konak Cafe
-Velvet Cafe
-Mavra Cafe Design Workshop
-Caffe Privato Ristaurante
Stay tuned for cafes :) My favorite is Konak Cafe because the view is amazing!
