BY DAILY SABAH
Offering a sweeping view of the Turkish megalopolis Istanbul, Çamlıca Tower has attracted 788,241 visitors in just one year since it opened, the country’s minister of transportation and infrastructure said.
Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said another 455,945 people visited the tower on the city’s Asian side between Jan. 1 and Aug. 20.
The tower was opened on May 29, 2021, the anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans in 1453, with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who also has an Istanbul residence near the landmark. The 369-meter-tall (1,210-foot-tall) tower, situated on the eponymous hill, is located at an altitude of 587 meters and has been dubbed the highest tower in Europe by Turkish authorities. Its main purpose was to replace 33 giant antennae cluttering the hill. Now, it serves as the only site in the world that allows 100 different radio broadcasts to be broadcast at the same time at the same point, without mixing frequencies.
Aside from its practical use for TV and radio broadcasts, Çamlıca Tower also has a cafe, a two-story restaurant, souvenir shops, exhibition areas, a library and a couple of observation decks that allow visitors to admire the view of the city’s Asian and European sides at the heights of 148 and 153 meters, across 13 floors. Designed in a way to provide a unique appearance when viewed from different locations in the city, the tower has 53 floors, including four floors below ground.