Sarajevo Clock Tower

The Sarajevo Clock Tower (Bosnian: Sarajevska sahat-kula) is a clock tower in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located beside Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque and is the tallest of 21 clock towers built in the country at 30 m. The clock shows lunar time, in which the hands indicate 12 o'clock at the moment of sunset, the time of the Muslim Maghrib prayer.[1] A caretaker sets the clock's time manually once a week.[2][3]

Sarajevo Clock Tower

History

The tower was constructed by Gazi Husrev-beg, a governor of the area during the Ottoman period.[4] The earliest known documented mention of the tower dates to the 17th century in a work by Evliya Celebi. It was rebuilt twice, once after fire damage when the city was attacked by Eugene of Savoy in 1697,[5] and in 1762.

In 1874 the clock was replaced by a mechanism made by Gillett & Bland of London. The previous Turkish mechanism was moved to the mosque in Vratnik.

In 1967 the clock was repaired, and the hands and numbers on all four clock faces were gilt.

National monument

In 2006 the clock tower was declared a national monument by a commission to preserve the country's heritage.[6]

References
  1. Marinković, Aziza (2 February 2017). "Sahat-kula, jedini lunarni sat u Evropi". Al Jazeera Balkans (in Croatian). Al Jazeera Media Network. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  2. Strochlic, Nina. "This Man Keeps Time on the World's Last Lunar Clock". National Geographic. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. Bastug, Emre; Girit, Ilker (18 December 2017). "Elderly man adjusting lunar clock for half a century". Anadolu Agency. AA News Broadcasting. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. Cuvalo, Ante (2010). The A to Z of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 209. ISBN 0810876477. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  5. "Sarajevo has the only Public Lunar Clock in the World!". Sarajevo Times. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  6. "Clock Tower in Sarajevo". Bosnia Hezegovina Commission to Preserve National Monuments. Retrieved 18 December 2018.


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