Everyone who looks at the Galata Tower sees stone. But if you look a little longer, you notice something else: there is constant movement across its walls. The tower is not only a monument — it is also home to thousands of birds.

Nests within the stone

Thousands of swift- and swallow-like birds live in the cavities and nests in the tower’s walls. They are not guests but residents: for generations, they have nested in the same stone and raised their young there. Some people in the neighbourhood have even observed these birds for years and written books about them.

It is a curious thought: this structure, erected in 1348 as a watchtower and later used as a prison, observatory and fire tower, also functions as an uninterrupted wildlife refuge. The city’s most photographed landmark is also its most crowded birdhouse.

Two decisions

There are two moments in the story of these birds, and both are quietly heartwarming.

The first: when scaffolding erected to clean the tower walls was covered with netting, mother birds could not reach their nests and their young could not be fed. Once the situation was noticed, the cleaning work was abandoned.

The second: years later, scaffolding was erected all around the tower for restoration. It was then realised that it was the birds’ breeding season. The scaffolding was removed and the restoration was paused. The nests could have been sealed with mortar; they were not.

A city dismantling thousands of lira worth of scaffolding for its own birds may seem like a small piece of news. To us, however, it is the kind of decision that best reveals a neighbourhood’s character: while history is preserved here, those living within it are taken into account as well.

Barnathan’s doves

We see the same habit in our own building. Doves have nested on the cornices of Barnathan Apartmanları ever since the building was constructed in 1892. The street name changed, the owners changed, the apartment building was restored — the doves remained.

Perhaps we understand that a building has truly become “settled” more from its birds than from its people.

As you look

The next time you queue to go up the tower, look up while you wait: you will see birds coming and going from the walls. To them, seven-hundred-year-old stone is simply a piece of rock; yet they are its most faithful tenants.

Source: Meroddi archive and neighbourhood observations.