Clock Tower of Bitola

About

The Clock Tower of Bitola, known as Saat Kula (Macedonian: Саат кула), is a clock tower and one of the landmarks of the Macedonian city of Bitola. The clock tower in Bitola is a very practical monument aiding people with the time of day. The original clock tower was first built in 1664 by Mahmut Bey when the city was part of the Ottoman Empire and known as Manastır.

Legend has it that the Turks collected 60,000 eggs from the surrounding villages and mixed the shells into the construction mortar. The Ottomans rebuilt the tower in the 1830s, in the same period when the Orthodox Church of St. Demetrius was being built.

It is located in the immediate center of Bitola on the northern part of the main street Širok Sokak not far away from Magnolia Square, where there are numerous cultural and historical monuments, as well as new construction. The clock tower is 33 meters high, with sides of per 5.8 m. On all four sides are entrenched special metal plates mounted to the hands and inscribed with Roman numbers from one to twelve.

During the Turkish era, the numbers used were Eastern Arabic numerals. On the uppermost part is a small dome, which offers a beautiful panorama of the city and the...