Replica of missing clock in historic tower recovered

Salim Uzun - ANTALYA

In a collector's establishment in Istanbul, an actual duplicate of the missing original clock from the southern province of Antalya's famous clock tower has been discovered.

Cemil Karabayram, manager of the Cultural Assets Unit in Antalya Governor’s Office, told daily Hürriyet that dozens of official documents and photographs were examined during the research process, and finally it was determined that a collector had an exact copy of the historical clock.

“During the restoration of the clock tower, we found that no data belonging to the original clock was found. We asked all relevant public institutions and organizations where the clock might be. We found photographs of the clock taken in the past years. In line with the available data, we started looking for the clock in many points of the country.”

“As a result of the search, we found an exact replica of the clock in a collector’s establishment in Istanbul. We can call this clock an exact replica of the lost clock of the tower. We purchased the clock from the collector businessman through a sponsorship. All the mechanism and other parts of the clock, which we think are original, will be rebuilt and installed as soon as possible,” Karabayram said.

Initially built during the Byzantine period and located on the bastions dating back to the Hellenistic era, the historical tower, one of the most important symbols of Antalya, was turned into a clock tower the early 1900s during the reign of Abdülhamid II.

During the restoration and excavation works in the tower, it was revealed that the clocks on all four sides were not original and made from plastic.

After the revelation, Antalya Governorship started a comprehensive study to reach the original clock.