On a small island off the southern shore of Üsküdar is a stubby white tower, tiny but for some reason one of the city's best-loved landmarks, endlessly used in graphics and logos. Although the island was occupied by a fortress in Byzantine times, the tower dates only from the last century. It has been used as a quarantine centre, a lighthouse, a customs control point and a hideout for the villainous Elektra (Sophie Marceau) in 1999's James Bond picture 'The World is Not Enough'.

In Turkish it's known as Kız Kulesi, or Maiden's Tower - supposedly because a princess was once confined here after a prophet foretold that she would die from snakebite.

To visit this small Island you walk the shoreline promenade to Salacak (about a 15-minute walk from central Üsküdar), where boats leave every 15 minutes from noon to 7pm and you can have a tea in the restaurant there.

In the background you see the skyline of the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofia and the Galata Tower.