After the naval victory at Cyzicus, in 408 BC the Athenian general Alcibiades probably built a custom station for ships coming from the Black Sea on a small rock called Arcla (small castle) and Damialis (its calf) in front of Chrysopolis (today's Üsküdar).[1]

In 1110 Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus built a wooden tower protected by a stone wall.[1] From the tower an iron chain stretched across to another tower erected on the European shore in the Mangana quarter of Constantinople.[1] The islet was then connected to the Asiatic shore through a defence wall whose underwater remains are still visible.[1] During the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the tower held a Byzantine garrison commanded by the Venetian Gabriele Trevisano.[1] Subsequently, the structure was used as a watchtower by the Ottomans during the reign of sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.[1]

The tower was destroyed during the earthquake of 1509, rebuilt, and then burned down in 1721.[1] Reconstruction was ordered by the grand vizier Damad Ibrahim Pasha and the new building was used as a lighthouse; the surrounding walls were repaired in 1731 and 1734. Then in 1763 the tower was reconstructed in more durable stone.[1] From 1829 it was used as a quarantine station before being restored again by Sultan Mahmud II in 1832.[1] In 1945 it was the turn of the harbour authority to patch it up.[1] Then in 1998 it was restored again, shortly before appearing in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

After the 17 August 1999 earthquake and tsunami in the Sea of Marmara steel supports were added to the tower to strengthen it.[2] The interior was converted into a café and restaurant, with views of the former Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman capital at Sarayburnu.[3] Private boats ply back and forth between the tower and the shore throughout the day.[4]

In 2021 work on restoring the tower yet again . The work was completed in 2023 and the tower reopened to the public in May of that year.[1]