The Galata Tower, built originally by Genoese in the 14th century as part of Constantinople’s defenses survived the Ottoman conquest a century later and later served as a fire tower. Today, it includes an observation deck, a restaurant and nightclub. It’s on the northern side of the Golden Horn, the river that separates it from the oldest part of European Istanbul, just before it flows into the Bosphorus. It stands in the Beyoglu district, above waterfront Karakoy.
Its massive size and conical roof make it one of the most-recognized sights of Istanbul, even though it spent nearly a century without its cone; the original roof burned in the 1860s and was not reconstructed until the 1960s.
