İzmir Parachute Tower


İzmir Parachute Tower is a parachute tower located within Kültürpark in İzmir, Turkey. It was built in 1937 by the Turkish Aeronautical Association. It is one of the two parachute towers in the country.

History

Mayor Behçet Uz, who saw the parachute tower in Gorky Park in Moscow, suggested that a similar tower be built in Kültürpark to the Turkish Aeronautical Association. The Turkish Aeronautical Association sent a delegation to Russia to investigate and decided to build a parachute tower in Ankara in addition to İzmir. The construction of the tower, whose architectural project was prepared by Bedri Tümay and Algrandi, started in 1935 within Kültürpark. The tower, which costed 38,758.61 Turkish liras, was completed in 1937. It was inaugurated on 20 August along with the 7th İzmir International Fair with the participation of the then-Economy Minister Celâl Bayar. The tower operated for a fee during the fair period. It was temporarily closed due to damage in the 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake.

Architecture

Seventy-five oak piles were nailed to the floor of the İzmir Parachute Tower, which was built using reinforced concrete as the first concrete parachute tower in the world. The tower, which has three terraces, is above sea level and above ground level. There is an elevator in the middle of the tower and a 245-step spiral staircase around this elevator.