Legends
The name 'Maiden' holds several stories at once — and none has been proven.
Why 'Maiden'?
The name Qız Qalası is translated as 'Maiden Tower'. But 'qız' means not only 'maiden' but also 'untouched', 'unconquered' — so the name is also read as 'the tower no one took'. Behind it stand several legends, each explaining the riddle of the stone in its own way.
Three legends
The leap into the sea
A ruler's daughter, to escape a hateful marriage, asked for a tower to be built. When it was finished and the wedding was not called off, the girl climbed to the top and threw herself into the waves of the Caspian, which then beat against its very foot.
The warrior maiden
In another version, a red-haired girl led the city's defence against an enemy: 'Give me a sword and a helmet — I will protect you.' The tower was named for her courage.
The sacred fire
A third legend ties the tower to a fire temple: the maiden gave her soul to the Sacred Fire Tower, and with her death the fires went out, and the tower came to be called the Maiden Tower.
Six theories of purpose
Fire temple
A Zoroastrian sanctuary: the 'eternal fire' of Absheron, the openings at the top and the tower's orientation are linked to the cult of fire.
Observatory
31 stone protrusions above and 30 below are matched to the days of the month; the long buttress points east, to sunrise at the equinox.
Fortress
Mighty five-metre walls and a position by the sea made the tower part of the city's defences.
Lighthouse
Its height and shoreline site were ideal for a signal fire for sailors; in the 19th century there really was a lighthouse here.
Water store
Inside is a well 21 metres deep reaching the aquifer, with ceramic pipes: the tower could have supplied clean water to the townsfolk.
Distillation column
An unusual hypothesis compares the tower to a distillation column for refining oil — hence its strange shape and projection.
No one ever took this tower — neither enemy nor time.