Maiden Tower, being in the middle of Marmara Sea has the best view of Istanbul. During day, the place serves as a cafe and museum and at night it is one of the best restaurants with live music. If you want to have a romantic evening, Maiden Tower is one of the top places to visit.
Hamoglu Group rented Maiden Tower in 2000 for the coming 49 years. Mr. Ahmet Hamoglu, number 84th richest man in Forbes magazine, says they spent 5 million dollars on the restoration and so far ( within 8 years ) they had 1,5 million visitors.
As Mr.Hamoglu says, in 2002 they held the party of James Bond and in 2005-2006 and 2007, they held the party of Formula 1 races.
The aim is having the %40 of the organizations of “Istanbul, 2010 culture city of the world.”
Maiden’s Tower (Kız Kulesi), sits on a small islet located in the Bosphorus strait. Maiden’s Tower was first built by the ancient Athenian general Alcibiades in 408 BC to control the movements of the Persian ships. There are many legends about the construction of the tower and its location. According to the most popular Turkish legend, a sultan had a much-beloved daughter. One day, an oracle prophesied that she would be stung to death by a venomous snake bite on her 18th birthday. The sultan, in an effort to thwart his daughter’s early demise by placing her away from land so as to keep her away from any snakes, had the tower built in the middle of the Bosphorus to protect his daughter until after her 18th birthday. The daughter was placed in the tower, where she was frequently visited only by her father.
Today, there is a restaurant on the first floor and a café at the top of the tower. Maiden Tower is a popular tourist destination and has one of the best views of Istanbul.
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