A medieval Genoese tow­er in the Gala­ta sec­tion of the Bey­oğlu dis­trict of Istan­bul, Turkey. Sit­u­at­ed on a high hill in the Euro­pean part of the city, the Gala­ta Tow­er has been used as a prison, a light­house, a fire tow­er, and an obser­va­to­ry at var­i­ous times. There are nine floors inside, most of which are occu­pied by an archae­o­log­i­cal muse­um. The exhi­bi­tion is ded­i­cat­ed to the his­to­ry of the tow­er on Gala­ta Hill: from the times of the Byzan­tines to the Ottoman Empire.