that the emperor's much beloved daughter would be killed by a venomous snake on her 18th birthday. In an effort to protect her, the emperor had the tower built in the Bosphorus and had her locked there to keep her away from any snakes. Her only regular visitor was her father. On her 18th birthday, the emperor brought her a basket of exotic fruits as a gift, delighted that he had been able to thwart the prophecy. However, an asp that had been hiding among the fruit bit the princess who died in her father's arms, just as the oracle had predicted, hence the name Maiden's Tower. The alternative name Leander's Tower comes from the Greek myth of Hero and Leander. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who lived in a tower at Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont (Dardanelles). Leander (Leandros), a young man from Abydos on the other side of the strait, fell in love with her and would swim across the Hellespont every night to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way. Succumbing to Leander's pleas, and to his argument that Aphrodite, the goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her throughout the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves buffeted Leander in the water. The wind blew out Hero's light, and Leander lost his way and was drowned. Hero threw herself from the tower in grief and died as well. Due to the vicinity and similarity between the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, Leander's story was mistakenly attributed to the tower. In popular culture Tower is featured in a romantic scene of Turkish TV series Kördügün (“Intersection”), Season 2, Episode 6. The tower featured in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. It was also visible in the background in the 1963 Bond film From Russia with Love. The tower was also used in the film Hitman. The tower was a point on the American reality game show The Amazing Race 7. The tower featured heavily in the Turkish drama programme Kurtlar Vadisi. The tower appeared in the Turkish drama programme Kırgın Çiçekler. The tower was featured in the game Assassin's Creed: Revelations where it is the location of one Masyaf key that the playable character must collect to complete the