One of the most iconic images of Istanbul surely has to be the Kız Kulesi Üsküdar, known in English as Maiden’s Tower, , Leander’s Tower or Bosphorus Tower. It is found on a small natural islet in the Bosphorus, just off the shore of Asian Istanbul.

The first tower here was built by an Athenian commander during the 5th century as a way of controlling ships passing the Bosphorus, and collecting taxes, a function that continued into Byzantine times, when a chain was stretched from it to the historic peninsula. In Ottoman times, it started to be used as a lighthouse.