Istanbul’s Maiden’s Tower getting a new look

İhsan Yılmaz - ISTANBUL

Istanbul has not been able to see the Maiden’s Tower, one of the landmarks that complete its silhouette, for a while.

Last November, a pier was built around it, and it was covered with a curtain that reads “The Maiden’s Tower opens its eyes again,” with the logo of the Culture and Tourism Ministry on it.

The ministry is carrying out comprehensive restoration work on the Maiden’s Tower, one of the most important structures integrated with the history of Istanbul.

The general aim of the work, which continues under the supervision of the ministry and is in line with the projects approved by the Conservation Board, is to clear the annexes that were added to the building later and do not conform to the original character of the building, and to restore it to its original details. In the restoration project, besides the architect Han Tümertekin, Professor Zeynep Ahunbay and Professor Feridun Çılı also work as consultants.

The steel roof and mezzanine floor, which were added to the castle courtyard section of the building in the 1990s, have been dismantled since the beginning of the works. In addition, the dismantling of the reinforced concrete parts, which were added on the same dates, was completed.

An important part of the restoration work is the dismantling of the reinforced concrete sections added to the structure in the 1940s. Those sections had been planned to be strengthened and protected, however, examinations revealed that the concrete material with seashells in it lost its feature due to the use of sea sand, the preparation of the concrete mortar by hand and errors and deficiencies in the design. Also, the non-ribbed iron reinforcements were excessively corroded and led to cracks, including the flag pole. After consultations with the advisers, a decision was made to remove the reinforced concrete parts from the structure.

“The Maiden’s Tower structure consists of a castle and a tower in its corner,” Çılı said.

“In the past, the top of the castle was covered with a steel roof and was used as an entertainment venue. In the tower, which is a masonry structure, the part above the terrace level and originally a wooden frame was reconstructed with reinforced concrete.”

Çılı said that was a big mistake. “Placing a reinforced concrete structure on top of a masonry building is against engineering and restoration principles,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, the reinforced concrete skeleton section above the terrace level has lost its quality due to the corrosion of the reinforcement and has become a discrete structure on top of the original masonry section, which has no continuity with the building.”

When the restoration, renovation and strengthening works are completed, the Maiden’s Tower will be transformed into a form close to the original, Çılı added.

The Maiden’s Tower is one of the landmarks of Istanbul, Ahunbay said.
“In addition to keeping it alive in form and meaning, the safety of the carrier system and its undamaged transfer to the future are also important,” she added.

“Unfortunately, during the renovation works in the 1940s, no drawing or photographic documentation was kept. Therefore, research was carried out on the buildings of the same period in terms of construction techniques, and with the help of the data obtained from the archives of different institutions and photo albums, restitution and restoration projects were developed for the reconstruction of the reinforced concrete parts to be removed,” Ahunbay said.

In the courtyard, which will be reopened, there will be stairs leading to the section where guards used to roam. Thus, with the new arrangements, visitors will be able to watch Istanbul from a height and angle they have never seen before.