Galata tower is a symbol of Istanbul

rosy440 (60)in #swmchallenge • 6 years ago

Hi friends!

Until the early twentieth century, the area in the European part of Istanbul Beyoglu was called Pera. The beautiful name hovers on the lips to this day.

It is here that shines with its beauty and elegance the famous Galata tower. It's like she floats through the ages and from the height of watching the surroundings of Istanbul in different times of history. The quarter or district of Pera was one of the 14 districts of Constantinople. In the days of Byzantium, it was a kind of international market. People of different nationalities lived here.

Let's dive into medieval Constantinople. The natural location of this area is the best suited for trade routes. But Byzantium up to 1204 controls part of the border of the Black sea and will not allow strangers. The sea resources were provided by Constantinople. All trade on the site was under the control of Byzantium. After the fall of Byzantium control of the black sea coast goes to the Italians. Now the territory belongs to the Genoese, Venetians and Franks.

On the hill opposite Constantinople the Genoese factorium of Pera or Galata is built. The trading post is a trade settlement of foreigners. Genoese in the highest point of the hill begin to build a tower in 1348 - their first checkpoint over the black sea water expanses. And called it Torre di Cristo / "tower of Christ", as on top of the cross was. This is a powerful building and trade point. The tower was called the Genoese loggia. Here sat notaries. They controlled everything, kept trade records and documentation.

After some changes this tower we see in our days. Around it were built defensive wall and ditches. Their fragments can be seen now. From the tower was conducted surveillance and control of passing ships.

Pera has been increasing rapidly. Trade and industrial activity has been successfully growing. The colony of Genoese gradually became rich. The hilly terrain and narrow, undulating streets did not give the crews a quiet movement. Often the goods were moved to animals or hired porters. This profession was in great demand. Even the modern quarter of Pera (Beyoglu) in the Galata area is still the same, with winding streets and many stairs. It is worth noting that near the waterfront was a large Galata street. It was laid on a horse railway.

The date of construction on this hill of the first tower of exact information remained. But some historians say that the wooden tower rose during the reign of Emperor Zinon 471-491 years of our era. Unfortunately, wooden structures were very often exposed to fires. There is no historical evidence of the existence of the tower, so this is only a guess.

The bell tower of Christ. Now it is stored in the archaeological Museum of Istanbul. When the Turks conquered Constantinople, they were very annoyed by the ringing of bells. Especially in the moments of namaz. Therefore, in those days all Christian churches and churches of Constantinople bells were removed. Not to mention that many temples have been turned into mosques.

At different times Galata tower had different names:

Megalos Pyrgos/the Great tower,
Torre di Cristo / Christ's Tower,
Tower Of Hezarfen.

In the famous Galata tower was born one of the first pioneers of aviation - Ahmet-Celebi. The engineer-inventor was nicknamed Hezarfen. The tower then began to bear his name. What did Ahmed Chalabi, that became the history of the world?

Ahmet Celebi (1609-1640), tied to the back of homemade wings, the first in 1632, has successfully carried out flight from the Galata tower in Istanbul to Uskudar Dogodila in. He was only 23 years old. Sultan Murad IV was awarded engineer of the gold.

The earthquake in 1509 caused serious damage to the tower. The architect Hayreddin restored the building. At different times, the tower served for different purposes. It housed a prison, an Observatory and a fire observation post. In 1875, the tower gets the look that we see today. Now the Galata tower is a Museum that stores the history of many centuries. The last major restoration took place in 1964-1967. This is just a brief history of the magnificent Galata tower. Not only tourists like the most beautiful architecture building. Turkish people are very anxious about the history of the tower. And also love to visit the observation deck, offering views of the colorful Istanbul and water spaces.

Is the area near the Galata tower, the monument, which is called "Barış"/Peace. In Istanbul, in 2003, an explosion occurred in the synagogue of Neve Shalom/Oasis of peace. 15 people were killed, 200 people were injured. Saturday prayer ended very tragically.

The synagogue Neve Shalom/Oasis of peace is Central in Istanbul. Previously, this place was a Jewish school. Led the project of construction of a building young and talented Bernard the Jews of Motol and Elio Ventura. The synagogue of Neve Shalom was opened in March 1951.

Monument "Barış"/World at the beginning of the Büyük Hendek street was opened in 2003 in the memory of the dead people in the synagogue Neve Shalom, at the hands of a suicide bomber. This isn't the first attack on the synagogue. Prior to that, in 1986 and 1992, terrorist attacks were committed. The monument reminds everyone that people of different religions and nationalities have always lived in Istanbul. Especially in the Galata area was a variety of multilingual population from historical times. The construction in the form of a monument calls for all to live in peace and respect for each other.

Next to the monument is a beautiful building.

The area from which you can reach the Galata tower.

According to Istanbul often notice here is a plan of funeral homes. I couldn't get any closer to find out who was buried there. But you can see that everything is very well maintained.