Izmit clock tower - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The İzmit Clock Tower in İzmit

Izmit

İzmit is a city in Turkey, administrative center of Kocaeli Province as well as the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. The city center has a population of 294.875...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

is one of many clock tower

Clock tower

A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...

s that were built throughout the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

as a result of the decree which was sent to the provincial governors to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sultan Abdülhamid II's ascension to the Ottoman throne. It was designed by architect Vedat Tek

Vedat Tek

Mehmet Vedat Tek was a notable Turkish architect, who has been one of the leading figures of the First Turkish National Architecture Movement.-Early life and career:...

upon the order of Musa Kazım Bey, the governor of İzmit, and built in 1901.

The neoclassical clock tower, which stands just in front of the Hünkar Pavilion of Sultan Abdülaziz

Abdülâziz

Abdülaziz I or Abd Al-Aziz, His Imperial Majesty was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned between 25 June 1861 and 30 May 1876...

, has four floors with dimensions 3.65 by 3.65 m (12 by 12 ft). The ground floor houses fountains, while the clock is on the top floor. All four facades of the middle floors are decorated with the seal of Sultan Abdülhamid II. The pointed cone on top is coated with lead.

The clock tower has been an inseparable part of the history of İzmit throughout the 20th century, and has become the symbol of the city.

In the former Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire, particularly in present-day Serbian

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, Bosnian

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

and Montenegrin

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

towns such as Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

, Prijepolje

Prijepolje

Prijepolje is a town and municipality in the Zlatibor District of Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the municipality of Prijepolje has a population of 36,713 people, while the town itself has a population of 13,068...

, Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Banja Luka

Banja Luka

-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...

, Gradačac

Gradacac

Gradačac is a town and municipality in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located roughly south of the Sava river. Administratively, Gradačac is part of the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

and Stara Varoš

Stara Varoš (Podgorica)

Stara Varoš is an old neighbourhood in Podgorica, Montenegro. Most of the old remains of this neighbourhood were knocked down.-Notable Sights:*Sahat kula...

, similar Ottoman era clock towers are still named Sahat Kula (deriving from the Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

words Saat Kulesi, meaning Clock Tower.)

See also