İzmir Clock Tower ( tr, İzmir Saat Kulesi) is a historic

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 ...

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 agglo ...

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 Mehmed Kâmil Pasha ( ota, محمد كامل پاشا مصري زاده; tr, Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kiamil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman statesman and liberal pol ...

, 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 the ...

, held a meeting with the prominent people of

on 1 August 1900. It was decided a

to be built in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

's accession to the throne. The clock tower was designed by the

Levantine Levantine may refer to: * Anything pertaining to the Levant, the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, including any person from the Levant ** Syria (region), corresponding to the modern countries of the Lev ...

French architect

Raymond Charles Péré Raymond Charles Péré (1854–1929) was a French architect, who was born at Roquefort-de-Marsan in the Landes, France, and arrived originally as a French teacher in 1880 at Smyrna (Izmir), married Anaïs Russo there and spent the rest of his lif ...

. 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 On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...

, 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

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

s (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 (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

and

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. 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

tughra A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted du ...

s 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 Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...

of the Turkish 500

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

banknotes of 1983–1989. It is also featured on the emblem of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 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 Miniatürk is a miniature park at the northeastern shore of Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. It opened May 2, 2003. It is one of the world's largest miniature parks, with a model area and total area of . It contains 135 models, in 1:25 scale, ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Izmir Clock Tower

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 ...