The Clock Tower of Bitola, known as Saat Kula ('' mk, Саат кула''), is a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

and one of the

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

s of the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

city of

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

. The clock tower in Bitola is a very practical monument aiding people with the time of day. The original clock tower was first built in 1664 by Mahmut Bey when the city was part of the Ottoman Empire and known as ''Manastır''. Legend has it that the Turks collected 60,000 eggs from the surrounding villages and mixed the shells into the construction mortar. The Ottomans rebuilt the tower in the 1830s, in the same period when the Orthodox Church of St. Demetrius was being built. It is located in the immediate center of Bitola on the northern part of the main street

Širok Sokak Širok Sokak ( mk, Широк Сокак, meaning "Wide Alley", from the Turkish word for "Street") is a long pedestrian street in Bitola, North Macedonia. The street is considered to be the centre of Bitola. It roughly starts at Magnolia Squar ...

not far away from Magnolia Square, where there are numerous cultural and historical monuments, as well as new construction. The clock tower is 33 meters high, with sides of per 5.8 m.Bitola Tourist - Saat Kula
/ref> On all four sides are entrenched special metal plates mounted to the hands and inscribed with

Roman numbers Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

from one to twelve. During the Turkish era, the numbers used were Eastern Arabic numerals. On the uppermost part is a small

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, which offers a beautiful panorama of the city and the wider environment. In more recent times restoration was conducted on the tower, which has not changed its original appearance.Bitola Babam Bitola - Saat Kula
The clock tower was constructed with massive stone blocks. The main and also most decorative part of the clock tower is the part where you set the clock. The entrance to the clock tower encircled by large marble blocks is located on the north side and about a hundred stairs leads to the clock, to its peak of approximately 32 m. These steps lead to the top where in the past the big metal bells stood indicating the time. In 1927 its first clock mechanism was developed by the German company ''Konfage''. People that were required to ring the bells were replaced with so called ''sajdzhii'' (clock keepers) who were responsible for maintaining the clock and the clock mechanism. At first there was white clock face with black numbers and hands, and was smaller than the present. This clock mechanism was replaced in 1936. 15 new bells (weighing 900 kg) were placed in the tower as a sign of gratitude for the construction of the Memorial Cemetery of German soldiers killed in the First World War. In 1962 the mechanism was restored, and in 1970 a keyboard mechanism was installed to play new songs. The clock tower is one of the 180 towers in the world which has embedded such a mechanism. In 2015, an old Turkish inscription dedicated to the tower, long thought lost, was rediscovered and reassembled at the nearby

Gazi Hajdar Kadi Mosque The Gazi Hajdar Kadi Mosque, ( mk, Ајдар Кади Џамија; sq, Xhamia e Gazi Hajdar Kadiut, tr, Gazi Haydar Kadi Cami) is a mosque, situated in Bitola, North Macedonia. In the past the religious building has been transformed into a w ...

. It was crafted by the renowned Ottoman calligrapher Kazasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi, whose work includes the giant medallions on the cornices of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.Lost inscription on the Bitola Clock Tower found (in Turkish)

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

. Retrieved 4 January 2020 File:Bitola, razglednica, 1930-ti godini.jpg, The Clock Tower of Bitola in the 1930s. File:Bitola,_razglednica_od_1930ti.jpg, The Clock Tower of Bitola in the 1930s. File:Saat Kula - Bitola 13.JPG, The Clock Tower within the park surrounding it. File:Саат кула и фонтана.jpg, The Clock Tower at night.

Notes

References

Utrinski Vesnik - about the Saat Kula Utrinski Vesnik - Saat Kula and the Partizans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitola, Clock Tower of Clock towers in North Macedonia Buildings and structures in Bitola Tourist attractions in Bitola