Maiden's Tower, Turkey

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A Seriously Old Lighthouse


Technically, the Maiden's Tower (aka Kiz Kulesi) is actually just a tower that, for a time, was used as a lighthouse, but still...

PC: Trey Ratcliff*

The exact construction date isn't known, but according to its website, some sources have dated the origins of the tower structure to go back as far as 341 BC! That, by my standards, is ridiculously old.

Apparently, the tower served many purposes throughout the past 25 centuries. So far, it's been a tax collection office (like a port terminal, controlling ships entering and exiting the harbour), defense fortress, military base, demonstration platform, lighthouse, quarantine hospital, and a radar station (to control sea and air traffic).

Any building this old, won't survive on luck alone, and there have been many restorative operations executed, but on 16 December 1993, another massive restoration project was launched and in 2000 the Tower was finally reopened as a tourist venue where you can now visit the museum, or have breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, weddings, etc.

Some more pretty pictures of the Tower from a Board dedicated to Kiz Kulesi.



*One of my favourite photographers out there. Watch his TedTalk.

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