Izmir Clock Tower

The clock tower on Konak Square has become the main symbol of Izmir. It was built in 1901 for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the accession to the throne of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to a design by the Levantine architect of French origin Raymond Charles Pere. About twenty-five metres high, the tower is built of pale stone and treated in a Moorish key: horseshoe arches, carved surrounds, four fountains at the base and an octagonal tier with a balcony. The clock mechanism was a gift from the German emperor Wilhelm II, which reflects the close relations between the Ottoman Empire and Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century. Posts and railings are set around the tower, separating it from the square, and next to it stands the small Konak Mosque of 1755, faced with Iznik tiles. The earthquake of 1974 damaged the clock and it had to be repaired, but the structure itself survived. The square opens directly onto the waterfront, from where ferries depart for the other side of the bay, and the tower serves as a natural meeting point.

On the map