Galata area of their settlement. These walls, including the mid-14th-century Galata Tower (originally "Christea Turris", "Tower of Christ", and completed in 1348) survived largely intact until the 19th century, when most were dismantled in order to allow further urban expansion towards the northern neighbourhoods of Beyoğlu, Beşiktaş, and beyond. At present, only a small portion of the Genoese walls are still standing, in the vicinity of the Galata Tower. Designed as an identical copy of the 13th century Palazzo San Giorgio in Genoa, the palace of the Genoese podestà of Galata, Montano de Marinis (which was known as the "Palazzo del
History of the Jews in Turkey History of the Jews in Turkey The history of the Jews in Turkey (, Turkish Jews; "Yehudim Turkim", ) covers the 2,400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in Asia Minor since at least the 5th century BCE and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire (including regions part of modern Turkey) in the late 15th century, 20 centuries later, forming the bulk of the Ottoman Jews. Today, the vast majority of Turkish Jews live in Israel, while modern-day Turkey continues to host a