Poyrazköy Tower

Poyrazköy Tower stands on a hill above the village of the same name, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait in the province of Istanbul in Turkey.

I don't know if the tower even has a name; I have seen it referred to as just simple 'kulesi', which means tower or 'Gözetleme Kulesi', which means watchtower. I named it Poyrazköy Tower because of its location.

It was built around 1778 by the French military advisor François Baron de Tott. He was of Hungarian descent and was involved in the reform efforts for the Ottoman military. He built several fortifications along the Bosphorus for Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha, also known as Hasan Pasha of Algiers, an Ottoman Grand Admiral. 

Poyrazköy Tower probably served as a defensible watchtower. It has a circular ground plan. It has a circular vaulted hallway on the first floor and an open platform with embrasures all around on the second floor. It is in a very ruined state but probably was identical to the, better preserved, Garipçe Tower on the opposite side of the Bosphorus.

At present Poyrazköy Tower is freely accessible and offers great views over the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. Poyrazköy Castle is situated a bit downhill.

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