İzmir Clock Tower ( tr, İzmir Saat Kulesi) is a historic clock tower located at the

Konak Square Konak Square ( tr, Konak Meydanı) is a busy square at the southern end of Atatürk Avenue in the Konak district of İzmir, Turkey. The square is the busiest part of the city, as Konak is the main place of İzmir. The square is named after the '' ...

in the Konak district of

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is considered as the main landmark of the city.

History

Kâmil Pasha, the then-Governor of

Aidin Vilayet The Vilayet of Aidin or Aydin ( ota, ولايت ايدين, translit=Vilâyet-i Aidin, french: vilayet d'Aïdin) also known as Vilayet of Smyrna or Izmir after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of th ...

, held a meeting with the prominent people of

on 1 August 1900. It was decided a clock tower to be built in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Abdul Hamid II's accession to the throne. The clock tower was designed by the Levantine

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

architect Raymond Charles Péré. The groundbreaking ceremony of the construction was held on 1 September 1900. The tower was completed in August 1901 and officially inaugurated on 1 September 1901, the 25th anniversary of the sultan's accession to the throne. The top of the tower was destroyed in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on 31 March 1928 and again in a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on 1 February 1974. During the protests against the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the clock of the tower was stolen. The tower underwent restoration in 2019.

Architecture

The tower, which has an iron and lead skeleton, is high and features four fountains (şadırvan), which are placed around the base in a circular pattern. The ground area of the tower is The tower has an octagonal plan and four floors. It was made of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

and stone. The tower has four clocks with a diameter of 75 cm. There is a bell on the fourth floor which is carried by twelve columns. There were tughras and Ottoman coats of arms on four sides of the tower. After the proclamation of the republic, they were engraved and replaced with stars and crescents.

Depictions

The clock tower was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 500 lira banknotes of 1983–1989. It is also featured on the emblem of

İzmir Metropolitan Municipality İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

. A 1:25

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

of the tower is on display in Miniatürk.

Gallery

File:İzmir Saat Kulesi 2017 Akşam 2.jpg, Night-time view of the tower (2017) File:İzmir Clock Tower restoration 02.jpg, Renovation of the tower (2019) File:Izmir Saat Kulesi Çeşme.jpg, One of the fountains in the tower File:500 TL reverse.jpg, Reverse of the 500 lira banknote (1983–1989)

References

External links