Tophane-i Amire Sanjak Tower

Sanjak Towers are the towers where armies used to erect their flags. Tophane-i Amire Sanjak Tower was one of them. Now it is used as a clock tower. The tower was built by Sultan Abdülmecid between 1848-1849. It is thought that the tower, which is associated with the Tophane Pavilion built by Sultan Abdülmecid in the same place, was built by the Balyans.


It is accepted that it was built by Sultan Abdülmecid because of the monogram on it. An engraving by Robert Waish dated 1839 indicates that there was probably a tower with a wooden structure here in earlier periods, but it is not known by whom the previous tower was built.


When the Clock Tower was built, the sea was right in front of it. With the effect of the flagpole on it and the shifting of the ground on the part facing the sea, the tower tilted 1.5 degrees towards the sea over time. In this state, it resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. 


Galataport Istanbul initiated an extremely meticulous restoration process in which very special techniques were applied in order to restore this structure, which has an important place among the historical places in Istanbul, to the city. For the restoration of the tower, the Dutch company Bresser, one of the few companies in the world to carry out this work, was engaged. As a result of the works, a floor covered with soil over time, which no one had noticed, was revealed. As a result of the meticulous elevation process, approximately 140 cm of the Tophane Clock Tower was raised above the soil. 


The dirt layer on the surface of the raised Tophane Clock Tower was cleaned in 5 months with scalpel-like tools used by dentists with meticulous work. In addition, two Zenith brand clocks on the sea and land sides were overhauled and repaired by Recep Gürgen, known as "Recep Usta", who repairs palace clocks. 



How to get there?


Tophane Clock Tower, located southwest of Nusretiye Mosque, is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, on the Assembly of Parliament Street in Beyoğlu district. You can reach the tower, which is close to the historical places of Istanbul and Karaköy sightseeing places, by taxi or Bağcılar-Kabataş tram line, Taksim-Kabataş funicular and Kadıköy-Karaköy ferries.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Terrastrial City Walls of Istanbul in Zeytinburnu

Image
Zeytinburnu hosts some terrestrial part of Istanbul city walls which  holds a length of 22 kilometers in three zones in all. Terrestrial walls had been built in 4 years during the reign of Theodosius 2 and had finished on August 25, 413 located between Ayvansaray, a sea-neighborhood in Haliç, and Yedikule in the Marmara coast with a length of 5.5km. These walls contain 3 parts as inner walls, outer walls and the moat. The inner walls were about 5 meters wide, 20 meters high and reinforced with a tower in every 60 meters. The inner walls were 14 meters away from the outer walls. The outer wall were reinforced with 96 towers some of which were up to 23 meters high. The moat was 20 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Altınkapı in Yedikule was the most majestic city gate and used only by the emperors in times of expeditions for departures or arrival. Other city gates of Zeytinburnu are Belgradkapı, Silivrikapı, Mevlanakapı, Sulukule Kapısı and Topkapı. The terrestrial walls was repaired sev...
Read more

The tallest structure of Topkapi Palace: Justice Tower (Adalet Kulesi)

Image
Topkapi Palace II. The first construction of the Justice Tower (aka Adalet Kasrı) in its courtyard belongs to the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. Some parts of the mansion, which was wooden when it was first built and not as high as it is today, became the section where valuable carpets, fabrics, trays and pitchers and documents were stored. Sultan III. When the Outer Treasury Building was built during the reign of Murad I, the items in the Justice Tower were moved to the new building. The location of the Tower of Justice is important in terms of symbolic meaning. The Justice Tower, which was built adjacent to the Kubbealtı (Divan-ı Hümayun), where the state was administered and decisions were taken on behalf of the state; it gives a message to the society that the state is governed fairly and that the decisions taken are fair. The Justice Tower, which was repaired in various periods of the 17th and 18th centuries, was built by Sultan II. It took on a new style during the reign of Mahmu...
Read more

You need to know this before you make your plan to visit Ayasofya in Istanbul

Image
  As one of Turkey’s oldest historical monuments, Hagia Sophia is centuries old. Profit Mohammed was not born when it was built. Originally, it was a Roman Greek church and used as a church 916 years. After Turkish people conquered Constantinople, it became a mosque and was used as a mosque for 481 years. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk turned the historical monument into a museum after the Turkish Republic was established. As it changed over the centuries, it went from a church to a mosque to a museum. Eventually, the historical monument was converted into a mosque again in 2023. It was free entry for all visitors when it became a mosque, regardless of their religion or nationality. While the Muslims use the first floor as a mosque, the government turned the upper gallery into a museum where you can see beautiful mosaic from the Byzantine era. You can enter the mosque first floor, where there is apsis (mihrap) anytime during the day, if you are a Turkish Muslim citizen. If you are Muslim, b...
Read more