The Clock Tower of

Ulcinj Ulcinj ( cyrl, Улцињ, ; ) is a town on the southern coast of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 10,707 (2011), the majority being Albanians. As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic coast ...

( Montenegrin: ''Sahat kula, Сахат кула'', , Turkish: ''Saat Kulesi''), was built in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

in 1754 during the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

rule over the city, with the help of donations made by the citizens of

. The name comes from the Turkish ''Saat Kulesi'' which literally means "Clock Tower" in English.

Purposes

The main purposes of the tower were calling people to their jobs, reminding them of their duties and making them aware of the time. Its location was carefully chosen, as it can be seen or its clock heard from every part of the town. It has a rectangular base, and it was made of a nicely irregular cut stone. The Sahat Kulla is located near the

Namazgjahu Mosque The Namazgjahu Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Namazgjahut), also called Big Mosque ( sq, Xhamia e Madhe) is one of the six mosques in Ulcinj, the biggest one.

and

Kryepazari Mosque The Kryepazari Mosque, also called Majapazari Mosque is one of the six mosques in Ulcinj. It was built by Nuradin-Beg from Ulcinj in 1749. It was destroyed in the earthquake in 1979, and 16 years later it was renewed by the donations of the local ...

. For a long time there used to be a man in

whose title was '' muvekit'' (

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

for "timekeeper"), and his duty was to take care of the correctness of the clock on the Tower.Tvrđava u Ulcinju
waytomonte.com]

References

Ottoman clock towers, Ulcinj Ulcinj Tourism in Montenegro Clock towers in Montenegro {{Montenegro-struct-stub