Maiden´s Tower Entrance with Audio Guide
Kız Kulesi sits on its own tiny islet just off the Üsküdar shore, where the Bosphorus meets the Sea of Marmara. It has been a watchtower, a lighthouse, a customs post, a quarantine station and a naval signal point, and it reopened after a full restoration in 2023.
- At the gate
- £25.50
- Allow
- 1h 30m
- District
- Uskudar
- Closed
- Open daily
Maiden's Tower, in short
Ku0131z Kulesi sits on its own tiny islet just off the u00dcsku00fcdar shore, where the Bosphorus meets the Sea of Marmara. It has been a watchtower, a lighthouse, a customs post, a quarantine station and a naval signal point, and it reopened after a full restoration in 2023.
Half the pleasure is the short boat ride out to it. The other half is standing on a rock in the middle of the strait with the city on both sides of you.
Opening hours
Open daily, 09:00 to 19:00, with the last boat back shortly after closing. Crossings can be suspended in rough weather.
What it costs
Walk-up entry with the audio guide is u20ac30, including the boat transfer. Included on the pass.
Getting there
Boats run from u00dcsku00fcdar and from Kabatau015f on the European side. Take the T1 tram to Kabatau015f, or a ferry to u00dcsku00fcdar and walk to the Salacak jetty, which is the shorter crossing.
How long to allow
Around an hour including the crossing. Late afternoon is best u2014 the light comes across the water from the west and the tower is at its most photogenic from the u00dcsku00fcdar shore just before sunset.
The legends
Two stories attach to the tower. In the Byzantine one, an emperor was told by an oracle that his daughter would die of a snakebite on her eighteenth birthday, so he shut her in a tower surrounded by water. A snake arrived in a basket of fruit. It ended as prophecies tend to.
The Greek myth of Hero and Leander is often told here too, though it properly belongs to the Dardanelles: Leander swam to Hero's tower each night guided by her lamp, until a storm put the light out.
Frequently asked questions
- Yes, in general. Check with staff about any specific restriction on the day.
- On the Asian side, u00dcsku00fcdar's waterfront mosques and u00c7amlu0131ca Tower. Across the water, Dolmabahu00e7e Palace and the Beu015fiktau015f district are a short ferry ride away.
- The best known is the Byzantine princess confined to the tower to escape a prophecy about a snakebite u2014 which found her anyway, in a basket of fruit. The Greek tale of Hero and Leander is often attached to it as well.
- Yes. The crossing from the jetty is part of the ticket, and the pass covers both.