Restoration begins at Maiden’s Tower

ISTANBUL

In a bid to revive Istanbul’s iconic Maiden’s Tower, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry has initiated a restoration project titled “The Maiden’s Tower Opens Its Eyes Again.”

“The ministry continues to work with great care to bring to light the unique heritage of our history and to protect the artifacts of our civilization. With this responsibility, we are starting a new project on the Maiden’s Tower, one of the symbols of Istanbul,” Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said at a press conference held on the weekend at the Maiden’s Tower. Project consultants Professor Zeynep Ahunbay and Han Tümertekin also attended the press conference.

Stating that the Maiden’s Tower in the middle of the sea, which is a rare structure in the world, has been used for different purposes for centuries, Ersoy said: “The Maiden’s Tower, which was once used to control the Bosphorus traffic, a castle after the conquest, a lighthouse that guides sea transportation, a surveillance and radar station and a cyanide warehouse for a short time, was also interestingly used as a plague and quarantine place. After the restoration works carried out between 1995 and 2000, it served as a restaurant until recently.”

“It has been determined in the historical records that the Maiden’s Tower was frequently repaired as it served different purposes and also due to its location in the middle of the sea with humidity, salinization and waves affecting it negatively. The architectural transformations of the historical building are clearly seen in the written and visual records of different periods and the repair books,” he added.

Ersoy stated that the spatial and material changes arising from the functions of the Maiden’s Tower in the historical process were examined and that a restitution and restoration project was prepared in the light of scientific research.

Highlighting that the Maiden’s Tower is an important monument, Ersoy said: “All works to be done on the Maiden’s Tower will be presented to the public with all its transparency on a website. We aim for the Maiden’s Tower to remain only as a monument without having a function, to be visited as a ‘monument,’ and people to observe the beauties of Istanbul from the Maiden’s Tower panorama.”

Within the scope of restoration works, the roof over the courtyard of the Maiden’s Tower will be removed, the cement joints on the original walls of the city walls and the tower will be cleaned and new joints will be made with Khorasan mortar and the courtyard and the outside floors will be restored to the original material determined in the historical records. There are also technical details, such as strengthening the dome with carbon fibers.

While the new face of the Maiden’s Tower is set to be presented to the visitors in April 2022, the details of the work can be seen at www.kizkulesi.com.