The Secret Passage Under the Maiden’s Tower | Paranormal Places

Paranormal Places: The Maiden’s Tower, Istanbul’s pearl, is full of legends and secrets. One tells of a passage to a hidden structure under the sea, revealed by a mysterious notebook.

The Maiden’s Tower: History and Names of an Istanbul Symbol

Right in the middle of the Bosphorus, about 150-200 meters off the coast of Salacak in Üsküdar, stands a structure that perhaps best reflects the soul of Istanbul: the Maiden’s Tower (Kız Kulesi in Turkish). It is much more than a simple lighthouse or a historic tower; it’s a symbol woven with romance, melancholy, and countless unknowns, an integral part of the UNESCO World Heritage site “Historic Areas of Istanbul.” Its solitary position in the water, washed by the currents connecting the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea, has fueled people’s imagination for centuries.

Exactly when the first structure was built on this strategically important spot is lost in the mists of history. There are no definitive, continuous records. However, some ancient sources indicate that around 410 BC, the Athenian commander Alcibiades established a customs station here for ships coming from the Black Sea. Other sources date the first architectural structuring even earlier, to 341 BC. What is certain is that structures have been repeatedly built, destroyed, and rebuilt on this small islet over the millennia.

The tower’s ancient names reflect its long and layered history. In antiquity, it was known as Arkla (small castle) or Damalis. The name Damalis is said to come from the wife of the Athenian King Chares, who was supposedly buried here. Another name, frequently encountered especially in European sources, is Leander’s Tower. This name is associated with the tragic Greek legend of Hero and Leander, although that story is generally thought to have taken place at the Dardanelles (Hellespont). Even this confusion highlights the romantic and legendary aura the tower has always possessed. During the Byzantine era, it was also known by names meaning “small castle.”

After the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II in 1453, the existing Byzantine tower on the islet was demolished. Initially, a wooden watchtower was built in its place. However, this wooden tower burned down in a fire in 1719. Consequently, it was rebuilt in stone in 1725 under the order of the Grand Vizier of the time, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, by the city’s chief architect. Over time, the tower underwent various repairs and modifications. Notably, during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, extensive restoration work in 1832-1833 gave the tower its present Baroque appearance. The upper part was redesigned, a glassed-in kiosk was added, and it was topped with a lead-covered dome. In 1857, a lantern was added again, enhancing its function as a lighthouse. In 1920, the lamp of this lantern was equipped with an automatic lighting system.

During the Republic era, besides continuing its use as a lighthouse, the tower occasionally served different purposes, such as a quarantine station and a radar station. In 1964, it was transferred to the Ministry of National Defense and used for military purposes for a time. In 1982, it was handed over to the Turkish Maritime Organization (Türkiye Denizcilik İşletmeleri). After being restored by a private company in the late 1990s, the Maiden’s Tower was opened to the public as a restaurant and cafe, quickly becoming a popular tourist destination and a sought-after backdrop for weddings and special events. The most recent restoration (2021-2023) carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has returned the tower closer to its historical state and reopened it as a monument museum and observation point.

An interesting historical function of the tower was controlling Bosphorus traffic and collecting tolls from passing ships. According to accounts, a massive iron chain was once stretched between the islet where the tower stands and the European side of the Bosphorus to control passage. Ships had to pass between the Anatolian coast and the Maiden’s Tower and pay their dues there. The tower holding the Asian end of the chain still stands today, while its counterpart on the European side vanished long ago. However, it is said that in calm waters, the underwater ruins of this European counterpart can still be seen.

Legends of the Tower: From King’s Daughters to Holy Meetings

Perhaps no structure in Istanbul has been the subject of as many diverse legends as the Maiden’s Tower. These legends have nurtured the tower’s mysterious atmosphere, transforming it from merely a historical building into a living fairytale character.

The Serpent Prophecy and the Imprisoned Princess

The most well-known and perhaps most classic legend associated with the Maiden’s Tower concerns a Byzantine Emperor and his beloved daughter. According to the legend, a seer prophesied to the emperor that his only daughter would die from a snakebite upon reaching the age of 18. Terrified by this prophecy, the emperor sought a way to protect his daughter from snakes. He found the solution in building a tower on this small islet in the middle of the sea, where snakes could not reach. Once the tower was completed, he placed the princess there. However, fate could not be escaped. A snake hidden inside a basket of grapes sent to the tower bit the princess, and the prophecy tragically came true. Upon the princess’s death, the emperor had an iron coffin made for her, which is rumored to have been placed above the entrance gate of Hagia Sophia. It is even said that today, two holes, believed to be where the snake entered, can still be seen on this sarcophagus at the entrance of Hagia Sophia, attracting the curiosity of visitors. This sorrowful tale is one of the most common explanations for the tower’s name, “Maiden’s Tower.”

The Meeting Place of Khidr and Moses

Another significant narrative linked to the Maiden’s Tower has religious and mystical dimensions. In the Holy Quran, Surah Al-Kahf (Chapter 18, verses 60-82) recounts the journey and meeting of Prophet Moses (Musa) and a wise servant of God (often identified in commentaries as Khidr, though his name is not explicitly mentioned), who was granted special knowledge (ilm al-ladun) from Allah. In this story, Moses sets out to learn from this wise servant. The meeting place is described as “the junction of the two seas” (Majma’ul-Bahrain).

This is where the Maiden’s Tower enters the narrative. Particularly in local Istanbul beliefs and some Sufi interpretations, this “junction of the two seas” mentioned in the Quran is believed to be the very spot where the Maiden’s Tower stands – the strategic point in the Bosphorus where the waters of the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea (and thus the Mediterranean) converge. According to this interpretation, Moses represents the exoteric knowledge (zahir, external, apparent), while Khidr is the ocean of esoteric knowledge (batin, internal, hidden). These two great prophets or servants, these two seas of knowledge, met precisely at this point. This meeting symbolizes not just the coming together of two individuals, but also the union of two different types of knowledge, the external and the internal, the law (Sharia) and the reality (Haqiqa). In this belief, the Maiden’s Tower is considered a spiritual seal, a marker placed upon the site of this sacred encounter. The tower’s existence is a reminder, a pretext for this event.

Another element seen as supporting this interpretation is the location of the shrine and tomb of Prophet Joshua (Yusha ibn Nun), believed to be the assistant and a military genius companion of Moses, situated on the hill directly opposite the Maiden’s Tower, at Joshua’s Hill (Yuşa Tepesi) in Beykoz. This geographical alignment is thought to reinforce the idea that the area lies on a significant spiritual axis.

Sir Francis Crick’s Discovery: The Secret Passage Revealed?

Beyond the history and legends of the Maiden’s Tower, there exists a more concrete, yet equally mysterious, claim belonging to modern times: a secret passage beneath the tower extending under the sea to a hidden structure. This claim is based on a story associated with Sir Francis Crick, the famous scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA (although the historical accuracy of this specific story is highly questionable).

According to the tale, sometime in the 1940s, a mysterious man, likely of Arab origin with a poor accent, knocked on the door of the London villa belonging to Sir Francis Crick (sometimes referred to cryptically as “French 40”), who was a great antiques collector with an interest in Istanbul. The man held an old notebook and said he wanted to sell it. Examining the notebook, Crick saw some technical drawings and Arabic script inside. Despite the man’s insistence, Crick dismissed him after giving him a few pounds.

However, upon re-examining the drawings in the following days, Crick realized they looked familiar and soon identified them as belonging to the Maiden’s Tower (referred to as Leander’s Tower in the drawings). But there was a difference: the tower was depicted as having three stories. Crick gathered all the information he could find about the tower, compared it, and initially thought the drawings were incorrect.

But his curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to have the notebook translated. According to the translated records, there was a passage leading down into the basement of the Maiden’s Tower. Through this passage, one could reach another structure located beneath the seabed. This structure was built inside an ancient cave. A drawing of the key to the structure’s gate was also detailed in the notebook. Furthermore, it mentioned an ancient mechanism operating on the principle of filling and draining water, which allowed some rooms within the structure to be used for different purposes.

Fascinated by the secret he had learned, Sir Francis Crick began to investigate the mysterious man who had sold him the notebook. He even issued a special search warrant but yielded no results. Consequently, he commissioned a blacksmith to forge an identical key based on the description in the notebook. It’s said that in the following years, whenever he held the key, he could think of nothing else but going to Istanbul.

His goal after having the key made was to travel to Istanbul, examine the structure in person, and, if possible and if it was real, take photographs of this hidden section beneath the tower. Through his good connections, he managed to obtain a special 5-day permit from the Turkish government of the time, under the guise of an “architectural survey,” via the British Embassy in Turkey. However, a guard (observer) was assigned to accompany him.

He arrived in Istanbul with his assistant in August 1960. After brief preparations, they reached the Maiden’s Tower with the guard and his assistant. He immediately began his survey. The entrance mentioned in the notebook was located right at the base of the tower. When he got there, he saw nothing but a large rock. The first day passed with exploratory work. In the evening, back at his hotel, he considered breaking the rock but realized he needed to get rid of the guard first. The next day, they met the officer in Üsküdar to return to the tower. Crick told the officer that their task was merely measuring, that his presence wasn’t necessary, and that they would work more comfortably alone. However, the officer refused, citing his duty. Thereupon, Crick’s assistant, as previously agreed, gave the officer a very large amount of gold. This bribe was nearly equivalent to the salary the officer would earn in his lifetime, and the officer accepted the offer.

Francis Crick is purported to have recounted that day as follows: “The officer took the bag we gave him, turned his back, and left. We immediately jumped into the boat. I kept telling my assistant to row faster. Finally, we reached the tower. ‘Now you are mine!’ I let out a small cry of joy.”

Sir Francis immediately went to the entrance and began breaking the first rock, which was about 20 cm thick. After a few hours of effort, the rock broke, but the disappointment was immense. There was no entrance door with a keyhole underneath the rock as expected. Instead, there was an even larger second rock. They broke this second rock as well, only to find another rock beneath it. By now, they were exhausted, and it was time to leave. They prepared a simple plaster mortar and sealed the opening they had made. The next day, they broke the third rock and finally reached an iron cover.

However, this cover, having been there for centuries, was so rusted and warped that even the keyhole was distorted, and they couldn’t open it no matter how hard they tried. Thus, the third day ended, and upon returning to the hotel, they could think of nothing but opening that door. Although his assistant suggested they could open it using high heat, they decided against it as it would be a very conspicuous and laborious method. They resolved to dissolve the cover using an acid cocktail. Returning to the tower, they managed to melt the cover towards evening using this method. But it was late again, so they left the entrance part for the next day and departed from the Maiden’s Tower.

Early the next morning, they routinely headed back to the tower. The passage was extremely dark and narrow. The depth they descended using a rope was nearly 35 meters. The sounds of dripping water could be heard from below. Once down, he turned on his lamp and found himself in a large entrance hall. Wandering a bit further, he noticed ancient writings in an unknown language on the walls and a symbol he had never seen before. However, this symbol belonged neither to the Ottoman nor the Byzantine empires.

Some rooms of the structure had collapsed. He found an old sword on the ground. The sword was short, and its hilt was very small. At that moment, he thought that only a dwarf could wield such a sword. He illuminated the room as best he could and took the photographs, some of which you see now. Taking the sword with them, they climbed back up and sealed the mouth of the passage again with the stones they had removed and cement.

According to the story, carbon dating was performed on the sword in the 1990s. The test results indicated the sword dated back to between 1600 and 2000 years ago. The symbol on it, however, remained undeciphered by anyone it was shown to and could not be associated with any known civilization. This secret remained hidden until Francis Crick’s death in 2004. After his death, notebook number 40, found in a safe deposit box in a bank, contained notes about the tower, the sword, and 30 black-and-white photographs of the secret section beneath the tower, discovered by his grandson.

Speculations and Unanswered Questions

If Sir Francis Crick’s story (or this narrative attributed to him) holds even a grain of truth, many questions arise. Why was this secret temple or structure built beneath the Maiden’s Tower? Was it a shelter to hide valuables or important people from the tower in case of sudden attacks? Or did it serve a deeper, more esoteric purpose?

Some commentators speculate that this secret structure might be connected to the network of secret tunnels believed to crisscross beneath Istanbul, and that this location was a significant node in that network. Some old sources, purportedly supporting this theory, mention a secret underground tunnel passing through the Maiden’s Tower and extending to different parts of the city. For instance, a book supposedly 100 years old titled “7 Wonders of Find” is claimed to mention a corridor starting from a secret entrance in the Basilica Cistern near Çemberlitaş, passing under the Maiden’s Tower, and reaching a monastery on Kınalıada (one of the Princes’ Islands). However, the reliability and existence of such sources are highly questionable.

One of the most interesting and perhaps perplexing modern reflections of this affair appears in popular culture. In the renowned video game series Assassin’s Creed, developed and published by Ubisoft, the game titled “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” gives a special place to the Maiden’s Tower. The game’s story takes place during the reign of Sultan Selim I, and players can enter the Maiden’s Tower and its secret sections below. Intriguingly, the depiction of this section beneath the Maiden’s Tower in the game bears a striking resemblance to the descriptions and drawings in the notebook attributed to Sir Francis Crick. Is this merely a simple coincidence? Or is it a product of the game designers’ imagination? Or perhaps, is it a fragment of a much deeper secret unknown to us, leaking into popular culture?

Final Thoughts

The Maiden’s Tower, with its elegant silhouette in the Bosphorus, is not just a structure but a vessel carrying centuries of legends, historical events, and unanswered questions. Whether there is a secret passage beneath it, the veracity of Sir Francis Crick’s story, or whether it truly was the meeting place of Khidr and Moses may never be definitively known. But one thing is certain: as long as the Maiden’s Tower retains its mystery, it will continue to fuel people’s imagination, inspire new stories, and contribute to the magical atmosphere of Istanbul. Perhaps some secrets are meant to remain hidden amidst the whispers of the waves.

Bibliography

• The Holy Quran, Surah Al-Kahf (Verses 60-82). (Primary source for the narrative of the meeting of Khidr and Moses).
• General Historical Sources on Istanbul Architecture and History. (For verifiable historical and architectural information about the tower).
• Anonymous Notebook (Attributed to Sir Francis Crick). (The anecdotal reference cited as the source of the secret passage story, historical validity uncertain).
• Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Video Game). Ubisoft, 2011. (Reference for the popular culture representation of the secret section beneath the Maiden’s Tower).

(Note: The bibliography is based on the primary references mentioned directly or indirectly in the text. The source regarding the notebook, in particular, is anecdotal and of uncertain origin. Historical information relies on generally accepted sources, while legends and religious interpretations should be considered within their respective contexts.)

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