Galata Tower the public. From the top of the tower, the first French panorama painter, Pierre Prévost, drew his "Panorama de Constantinople" in 1818, which was later exhibited in Paris in 1825. The panorama image shown below is composed of ten photos taken from the Galata Tower by the photographic firm of Sébah & Joaillier, and is likely to have been taken in the 1880s. Galata Tower The Galata Tower ("Galata Kulesi" in Turkish) — called "Christea Turris" (the "Tower of Christ" in Latin) by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, just to
Galata (Pera) in Istanbul, and is known as Karaköy. There are several theories concerning the origin of the name "Galata". The Greeks believe that the name comes either from "Galatai" (meaning "Gauls"), as the Celtic tribe of Gauls (Galatians) were thought to have camped here during the Hellenistic period before settling into Galatia in central Anatolia; or from "galatas" (meaning "milkman"), as the area was used by shepherds for grazing in the Early Medieval (Byzantine) period. Italians believe the name comes from "calata" meaning slope or descent, because Galata, which is a former Genoese colony, is located on a hill that