The Maiden’s Tower
The Legend in the Heart of the
Bosphorus
T
he Maiden’s Tower, also known as
The Tower of Leandros, was built in
24 BC by the Byzantine Empire.
Though its mission changes frequently, its
beauty has stood the same through
centuries. It has been used as a cemetery,
customs station, show platform, military
facility among other purposes. The rulers
of that age set a chain between the tower
and the European shore because it was
useful against the enemy ships. Also, it
made it necessary for the trade ships to
pass between Maiden’s Tower and
Üsküdar, so the government could keep
them under control more easily.
Since the building is so ancient, it has
many legends connected to it. The most
known one is the legend of Hero and
Leandros. There was a temple which was
dedicated to Aphrodite on the shores of
what is now known as Üsküdar. Hero was
a priestess in this temple. Her duty in
there was to take care of the doves. Every
spring people used to do ceremonies for
the wakening of nature. Those who hadn't
found love came to these ceremonies and
prayed to Aphrodite to find love. In one of
these ceremonies, Leandros came to this
temple and saw Hero. They fell in love at
first sight. Though all they wanted was to
be together, there was one obstacle
standing between them, marriage was
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forbidden for Hero since she was a
priestess. One day Leandros was sitting on
the other side of the Bosphorus and
looking at the other side with dreams of
his sweet love. Then he saw the light of a
torch coming from the Maiden’s Tower.
He understood that this was his love
calling him to the Tower. He swam all the
way because he was a good swimmer.
That night Hero broke her oath and they
made love. In the morning he and she
went their separate ways, but they never
stopped meeting. Every night Hero
climbed to the top of the tower with a
torch and Leandros swam there using her
guiding light. At the end, one night a great
wind appeared and put out the light,
therefore Leandros lost his way in the
Bosphorus. In the morning of that night,
they found his body on the shore of the
other side of the tower. When Hero found
out that he had died, she decided that she
could not live without him and threw
herself from the top of the tower to the
cold waters of the Bosphorus.
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