İzmir Clock Tower

The Saat Kulesi was built in 1901 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Abdülhamid II's accession, one of many clock towers put up across the empire for the occasion, and it is the most elaborate of them. The design is by the Levantine architect Raymond Charles Père, in an Ottoman-Moorish style: twenty-five metres of pale stone in four diminishing stages, with horseshoe arches, columns and a fountain at each corner of the base. The clock itself was a gift from the German emperor Wilhelm II. It stands in Konak Square with palms around it, pigeons all over it and the small tiled Konak Mosque of 1755 alongside, and the square opens straight onto the waterfront, so the tower, the ferry pier and the Kemeraltı bazaar are all within a couple of minutes of each other. It survived the 1922 fire and the 1970s earthquake, and it is on the city's coat of arms.

What you actually see

• The four-stage tower - stone arches and corner fountains.
• The German clock - the face given by Wilhelm II.
• Konak Square - palms, pigeons and the waterfront beyond.
• The Konak Mosque - the small tiled mosque alongside.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Early morning or evening for photographs; the square is crowded and hot through the middle of the day.

Honest expectations

It is a monument in a busy public square - twenty minutes and you have seen it. The tower is not open to climb. Pigeon feed sellers and crowds are constant.

Nearby

The Kemeraltı bazaar begins behind the square; the Kordon promenade runs north along the water.