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Description
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 prophecised that she would die on her 18th birthday. The sultan, in an effort to thwart his daughter's early demise, 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.

On the daughter's 18th birthday, the sultan brings a basket of fruit as a birthday gift. Upon inspecting the basket, a poisonous snake that had been hiding amongst the fruit bites her and the daughter dies, just as predicted. Hence the name Maiden's Tower.

The older name Leander's Tower comes from another story about a maiden: the ancient Greek myth of Hero and Leander. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who lived in a tower at Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont (Dardanelles). Leander (Leandros), a young man from Abydos on the other side of the strait, fell in love with her and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp every night at the top of her tower to guide his way.

Succumbing to Leander's soft words, and to his argument that Aphrodite, as goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her. This routine lasted through the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light, and Leander lost his way, and was drowned. Hero threw herself from the tower in grief and died as well. The name Maiden's Tower might also have its origins in this ancient story.

Due to the vicinity and similarity between the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, Leander's story was attributed to the tower by the ancient Greeks and later the Byzantines.

Today, there is a restaurant in the first floor and a cafe at the top of the tower. It is a popular tourist destination.

Description
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 prophecised that she would die on her 18th birthday. The sultan, in an effort to thwart his daughter's early demise, 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.

On the daughter's 18th birthday, the sultan brings a basket of fruit as a birthday gift. Upon inspecting the basket, a poisonous snake that had been hiding amongst the fruit bites her and the daughter dies, just as predicted. Hence the name Maiden's Tower.

The older name Leander's Tower comes from another story about a maiden: the ancient Greek myth of Hero and Leander. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who lived in a tower at Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont (Dardanelles). Leander (Leandros), a young man from Abydos on the other side of the strait, fell in love with her and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp every night at the top of her tower to guide his way.

Succumbing to Leander's soft words, and to his argument that Aphrodite, as goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her. This routine lasted through the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light, and Leander lost his way, and was drowned. Hero threw herself from the tower in grief and died as well. The name Maiden's Tower might also have its origins in this ancient story.

Due to the vicinity and similarity between the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, Leander's story was attributed to the tower by the ancient Greeks and later the Byzantines.

Today, there is a restaurant in the first floor and a cafe at the top of the tower. It is a popular tourist destination.