The Galata

The Galata

Historic Galata District

Galata in the Roman and Genoese Period

The Galata region was registered as the 13th of the 14 districts of Istanbul during the Roman period and was divided into neighborhoods. The exact date of the first settlement began is unknown, but it is certain that this was before the Romans.

In the 4th century, when Constantine the Great died, he wanted to be buried in Galata. It was probably an important place during that period. In the 6th century, the Roman emperor Justinian organized Galata. In the 13th century, a Genoese colony was established here. With the Genoese settlement, Galata became an autonomous region under the control of the Roman Empire. The Venetians, as good as the Genoese in maritime, came here and traded through the harbors there.

The Genoese who came to Galata in 1200s, in an age when Rome was weakened, surrounded the walls with walls. However, they took the warnings seriously and demolished a part of the walls later, but they did not step back and they built stone buildings in the same places very often. They built the famous Galata Tower, the main subject of our article, for the purpose of observing the highest part of the historical region. As they call it, the Tower of Jesus…

Galata Region in the Ottoman Period

For the Ottomans, it was an outer neighborhood, just like the Romans did. This was one of the four districts of Istanbul, which were governed by the judiciary (in the city walls, the judges of Eyüp, Üsküdar and Galata). So he had a separate wife. After the conquest of 1453, the Genoese retained the rights of resettlement and commerce there. After the conquest of Istanbul, the young conqueror knew how much benefit the Genoese and Venetians would deliver to the region.

Nevertheless, the Ottomans were a little distant from Galata. Both the state and the people did not see the Galata district “by itself kadar until 1800s. As a matter of fact, 80% of the population in the region was Christian in the 1600s. Galata is divided into campuses. There were 70 Greek, 18 Muslim, 3 Frankish, 2 Armenian and 1 Jewish neighborhoods.

Previously, it was written that Taksim and beyond were a forest covered with fig trees, and the vicinity of Sütlüce - Kasımpaşa was a farm area full of milk-giving animals. Nevertheless, this area was mostly known for its taverns and ambassadors. In the following centuries, Pera (Beyoğlu) shone with hotels and banks.

The oldest 3rd metro line in the world is located here. The tunnel line, which was opened on January 14, 1875 and went from Karaköy to İstiklal, has a length of 575 meters.

Galata Tower (Tower of Jesus)

Although the Galata Tower was first built by the Romans in 507, it was assumed by the Genoese in 1348. Its height is approximately 70 meters and its diameter is approximately 10 meters. Its weight is estimated to be 10 thousand tons.

The Genoese placed a large Catholic cross on the tower, which was supposed to have been built by Anastasius I. Before the Ottomans, the tower on the top of the tower, known as the Jesus Tower, was lowered by Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han.

After the conquest of Istanbul, the Galata Tower was used for different purposes during the Ottoman Empire. In 1509, the people of Istanbul called the “Little Apocalypse deprem and suffered serious damages. It was repaired by Hayrettin, one of the important architects of the time. He was turned into prison during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. The prisoners working at Kasımpaşa shipyard were kept here for a while. Towards the end of the 1500s, an observatory was established here by Takıyüddin Efendi. However, Sultan Murad 3 later, the people "under the skirts of the angels are looking at" because of the "no to deal with the stars," he closed here.

In the first quarter of the 18th century, the Galata Tower was used as a watchtower against endless Istanbul fires. A quirk of fate was unfortunately burned down at the end of the same century. In the Galata Tower, which burned again half a century later, bay windows were added during the 3rd Selim and 2nd Mahmut periods. We also know that in 1875 a roof was flying in a storm in Istanbul. Galata Tower, which underwent another restoration in the Republican era, today serves as a restaurant and a viewing terrace.

Story of the Walls of Galata

Finally, I want to talk about the walls of Galata, which have little information and are no longer in place. 3 of these walls, which were called as Christos Walls in their own time, are on the land side and 1 on the sea side. The entrance and exits to the neighborhood were through 12 different doors. The fact that 9 of these are in the sea direction supports the fact that Galata is a port city.

The walls of Galata, which is thought to be around 14 kilometers from start to finish, are estimated to have a height of 10m - 12m. It is known that the last remains were destroyed in 1864.