In 1755, a merchant sail ship bound for Egypt ran aground off the shore of Kumkapı due to bad weather conditions in the night.

Hearing of the ship grounding, Ottoman sultan Osman III (reigned 1754–1757) rushed to the scene, where a seaman complained about the lack of a lighthouse there that could provide safe navigation around the hazardous waters.

On the sultan's order, a light fueled by olive oil was established by the Kapudan Pasha atop a watchtower of the city's walls at this location.

[2] In 1857, Sultan Abdülmecid I (reigned 1839–1861) commissioned the building of a lighthouse, which was constructed by French engineers in Ahırkapı (literally English: Stable Gate) right outside of the city walls south of the Topkapı Palace.

[4] It is operated and maintained by the Coastal Safety Authority (Turkish: Kıyı Emniyeti Genel Müdürlüğü) of the Ministry of Transport and Communication.