Description
Located between the Dolmabahçe Palace and Dolmabahçe Mosque (Bezmi Alem Valide Sultan Mosque), Dolmabahçe Clock Tower was commissioned by Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II in 1890. The construction of the clock tower finished in 1895 and according to the Ottoman archives it costed 1,210,550 Mecidiye gold coins (approximately $350 million in 2016 values).
Dolmabahçe Clock Tower was built by Armenian descent architect Sarkis Balyan, who was the son of Garabet Balyan - Dolmabahçe Palace’s architect. It is a very successful and classy blend architectural styles of Neo-Baroque and Empirical.
The height of the four-story tower is approximately 27 meters (89 feet) and it stands on a floor area of 8,5 x 8,5 meters (28 x 28 feet). It has four clocks on its four sides and they were produced by clock-master Johann Mayer. In 1979, the original mechanical clock was converted partly to an electrical one and its clocks are still functioning.
