The Clock Tower
Google Customer Rating:
User Rating:
Clock towers were built in most cities of the Ottoman Empire, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. Those were multi-storey structures that ended in a turret with a bell, which sounded the hours of the day, while in some cases it was also used to signal the time for the daily prayers of the Muslim population. Subsequently, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the towers were equipped with clock mechanisms, which indicated time.
The Clock Tower in Giannitsa is a structure built by Emir Serif Ahmet Evrenosoglu, descendant of the founder of Giannitsa Gazi Evrenos. According to an inscription on its eastern side, it was built in 1753/54 “as a gift to his father and mother and the souls of the Gazis”.
The tower has a square ground plan, with a door on its southern side. Its base is more elaborate and made of large cut stones, supporting the brick body of the structure. Inside, a wooden staircase connects the five storeys and leads all the way to the top, to the small wooden bell turret. It is considered the oldest surviving tower of this kind in Greece.
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports / Archaeological Resourses Fund
