507 CE: The First Tower

A photograph of the Golden Horn in Istanbul

A painting of the battle in the city

A map of Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire

The current Galata Tower isn’t actually the first of its kind. It was built to replace the original tower, known as Megalos Pyrgos (meaning the Great Tower in Greek), in the Byzantine Era. It’s not certain when the tower was built, but it’s thought to have been around 507 CE. The tower was located on the north side of the Golden Horn in Constantinople, in the citadel of Galata. The tower marked the northern end of the great chain, which was used for blocking invading ships at the mouth of the Golden Horn. The tower was later destroyed by the Latin Crusaders in 1204 during the Sack of Constantinople (1).

The original purpose of the Great Tower was to protect Istanbul from invading ships. As a defensive structure, the tower is a symbol of security and safety. The Sack of Constantinople is seen as the final stage of the Byzantine Empire’s decline; thus the destruction of the Great Tower, the stronghold of the city, also indicated the fall of the Byzantine Era. The tower’s defeat that coincided with the empire’s defeat suggests that the tower followed a similar trajectory as the city—powerful when Constantinople was, and destroyed when the empire was in decline. The tower’s imitation alludes to the tower’s significance to the power and control of the city.