“Turkey 🇹🇷 ~Bosphorus Strait Cruise”
We waited till we had a sunny day to do this boat ride. A dreary day with rain, would not be the same.
The Bosphorus was a bevy of activity on such a fine day. There are several tour companies and ferries available for people to choose from, which go all different directions. We enjoyed this boat trip for viewing many sites we had visited on shore, from the perspective on water. It was very scenic, and very enjoyable.
Today, when the boat made it’s turn, to head back, we decided to get off. We would not do a full round-trip back to our originating pier, because we had more to see, and the starting pier is not far from our home base. For a bit over $8 for the two us on boat fare, it was an easy decision. However, getting a taxi after we got off the boat was the hard part.
There were plenty of taxis, a taxi line to be exact, but each time I asked for the ride with a map, and the name of castle in hand, we were met with a “no,” “a wave of a hard,“ or “asked to step aside.” We do not know why taxi drivers only wanted to go towards the city, and not away from it, but after SIX tries, were were grateful a taxi attendant appeared, and helped us secure a ride. I must say, for being in Istanbul; the culture of kindness, there have been a few taxi drivers who do not fall into this kindness category, during our visit this month.
Once we got our ride, we headed the direction of the Black Sea, by road. We knew, going off-the-beaten-path like this, the taxi availability would lessen, but we were willing to take our chances, because the day was young, and there were two castle ruins we wanted to explore; an area the boat on this day, did not travel to.
Kizkulesi Tower is located off the coast of Salacak neighborhood in the Üsküdar Districts, at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus. It literally means “Maiden’s Tower” in Tutkish.
The name comes from a legend: the Byzantine emperor heard a prophecy telling him that his beloved daughter would die at the age of 18 by a snake. So he decided to put her in this tower built on a rock on the Bosphorus; isolated from the land, thus no snake could kill her. But she couldn’t escape from her destiny after all, a snake hidden in a fruit basket brought in from from the city, into the tower, bit the princess and killed her.
Another legend wrongly mentions Hero and Leander in the tower, therefore some people wrongly call it “Leander’s Tower.” A sad love story told by Ovidius: Hero was one of the priestess of Aphrodites, living in the tower. One day she left the tower to attend a ceremony in the temple where she met Leandros and they fall in love with each other. Leandros swam to the tower every night to visit his love, as she held a torch to guide him in the dark waters, towards her in the tower. But on a stormy night, Leandros couldn’t see the light because it was put out by the winds, and he swam, he lost his way, until he was drowned. Hero, seeing that her lover died, jumped into the water and committed suicided.
Regardless of the legends, The Maiden’s Tower, also known as Leander’s Tower, since the medieval Byzantine period, is a tower lying on a small islet; located at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul.
Construction started: 1110
Opened: 1725
Architectural: 59 feet
If you look on the left side of photo you can make out a a couple of cranes…our flat is right behind this set up.
In the Photo
This was built as a Kuleli Military High School, but it is now being turned into a museum.
History:
Kuleli Military High School was established in 1845, under the name of “Mektebi Fünunı İdadiye,” as the Maçka Barracks; now being used by the Istanbul Technical University.
It is the narrowest strait in the world, and is used for international navigation. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean seas
It is just opposite of Anatolian Castles, which is another Ottoman castle built in 1394, by Bayezid I. Both Anatolian Castle and Rumeli Castle were built by Ottoman sultans in order to prevent military and economic aid to reach the Byzantine Empire; coming from the north at the Black Sea.
Facts about the Rumeli Castle (Rumeli Hisarı):
•From above the Rumeli Castle is in the shape of the name of Prophet Muhammad, which shares the same spelling with Mehmed (Ottoman sultan commissioned the castle) in Arabic.
•It took only four months to build this enormous castle which has been standing for more than five centuries.
•The castle has been used in many local and international movies.
Construction began in 1986 and the bridge opened on the 3rd of July, 1988.
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge is the 14th largest steel suspension bridge in the world.
Along with the Bosphorus Bridge and the city’s ferries, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge carries a significant portion of Istanbul’s trans-Bosphorus traffic. ( up to 200,000 vehicles per day). It has also become an unforgettable piece of the Istanbul skyline
History
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
Also known as the ‘Second Bosphorus Bridge; the FSM is named after Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, who conquered Constantinople in 1453. The steel suspension bridge runs from Kavacık on the Asian side to Hisarüstü on the European side.
It is known that the construction went on between 1861 and 1865, for four years.
Beylerbeyi Palace was built to host the royals as a summer palace, while becoming a guest residence for visiting heads of states. Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Empress Eugenie of France were just two of those highly reputed guests of this Beylerbeyi Palace in the late 1800s. This imperial summer house also accommodated Sultan Abdulhamid II for 6 years, till his death.
15 July Martyrs Bridge
The Bosphorus Bridge, known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge and unofficially as the First Bridge, is one of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, thus connecting Europe and Asia. The bridge extends between Ortaköy and Beylerbeyi
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About Us
Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More
Looks like you had a nice day out and about
It was the perfect day to tour… the coastline here is just beautiful!