Best Clock Tower

The Torre dell'Orologio is a Renaissance clock tower on the north side of St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, built between 1496 and 1499. Its elaborate clock displays the time, zodiac signs, and phases of the Moon on a richly decorated astronomical dial. Above it, two large bronze figures commonly...

The Zytglogge is a medieval clock tower and former city gate in the historic center of Bern, Switzerland. Its origins date to the early 13th century, while the present astronomical clock mechanism was installed around 1530. The mechanism coordinates the clock faces with a sequence of moving figures...

The Belfry of Ghent is a medieval civic tower in the historic center of Ghent, Belgium, rising approximately 91 meters. Construction began in the fourteenth century, and the tower housed municipal privileges, served as a watchtower, and displayed bells that regulated civic life. Together with its cl...

St Mark's Campanile is the freestanding bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Piazza San Marco, Venice. The present brick tower stands about 98.6 metres high and was completed in 1912 as a close reconstruction of the earlier structure, which collapsed in 1902. Its recognizable form includes a square s...

The clock tower forms part of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the historic railway headquarters and station formerly known as Victoria Terminus in Mumbai. Designed by British architect Frederick William Stevens and completed in 1888, the complex combines Victorian Gothic Revival planning and d...

The Tower of the Winds is an octagonal Pentelic marble structure in the Roman Agora of Athens, generally dated to the late Hellenistic or early Roman period. Traditionally attributed to Andronicus of Cyrrhus, it functioned as a combined timepiece and meteorological station, using exterior sundials,...

Spasskaya Tower is the principal ceremonial gate tower on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, overlooking Red Square. It was constructed in 1491 under the direction of the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari and was originally called Frolovskaya Tower. Its large chiming clock, commonly calle...

The tower of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio, commonly called the Torre di Arnolfo, rises above the city's medieval civic palace. The palace was begun in 1299 and is traditionally attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, while the approximately 94-meter tower incorporates an earlier structure and carries a clock...

The clock tower of Independence Hall rises above the historic Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. The building hosted the debates and adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the drafting and signing of the United States Constitution in 1787. Its original wooden steeple was remo...

The Peace Tower is the central clock tower of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. Completed in 1927 as part of the rebuilding that followed the 1916 Centre Block fire, the approximately 92-metre Gothic Revival tower contains the Memorial Chamber and a carillon of 53 bells. It serv...

The Torrazzo is the bell tower of Cremona Cathedral in Lombardy, northern Italy, and rises beside the city's main square. Built over several medieval phases, the brick structure reaches approximately 112 meters and is a prominent example of Lombard Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Its facade carr...

The Gros-Horloge is a historic astronomical clock and architectural landmark spanning the Rue du Gros-Horloge in Rouen, Normandy. Its clock mechanism dates to the fourteenth century, while the richly decorated Renaissance arch and present dial belong to later phases of the monument's development. Th...

The Bell Tower of Xi'an is a Ming dynasty structure built in 1384 and later relocated to the center of the walled city's main crossroads. Raised on a substantial brick base, the timber tower has multiple tiers of roofs with upturned eaves and historically housed a bell used to mark time. It remains...

The Dom Tower is the Gothic bell tower of St. Martin's Cathedral in Utrecht, Netherlands. Completed in 1382 and standing approximately 112.5 meters high, it is the tallest church tower in the country and a defining feature of Utrecht's skyline. The tower became physically separated from the cathedra...

The Ferry Building Clock Tower rises above the San Francisco Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, a waterfront terminal completed in 1898. The approximately 75-meter tower was designed with reference to the Giralda, the historic bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Spain, and its four clock faces are vi...

The Belfry of Tournai is a medieval civic tower in Tournai, Belgium, whose origins date to the 12th century. Built and enlarged over several periods, it served as a watchtower, bell tower, prison, and symbol of municipal authority. It is included in UNESCO's Belfries of Belgium and France World Heri...

The Clock Tower, commonly called Torre del Reloj or Puerta del Reloj, is the principal historic gateway into the walled center of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The entrance originated in the colonial period, while the clock and the tower's present appearance reflect later alterations. Facing the Pl...

The Rajabai Clock Tower is a Gothic Revival clock tower within the University of Mumbai's Fort campus in Mumbai, India. Designed by British architect George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1878, it forms part of the university's nineteenth-century library complex. Its design draws on Venetian and Eng...

The Arras Belfry rises above the town hall in the Place des Héros at Arras in northern France. Built in the Flamboyant Gothic tradition and later reconstructed after wartime destruction, it functions as both a civic monument and a prominent feature of the city skyline. It is included in the Belfries...

The clock tower of Toronto's Old City Hall is a defining feature of the Romanesque Revival civic building designed by architect E. J. Lennox and completed in 1899. The structure served as Toronto's city hall until the present City Hall opened in 1965. Its tower, stone exterior, arches, and asymmetri...

The Belfry of Mons is a civic bell tower in Mons, Belgium, constructed between 1662 and 1672 on the site of an earlier tower. Designed in the Baroque style, it rises above the historic city and contains a carillon used for public music and timekeeping. It is the only Baroque belfry in Belgium and fo...

The Belfry of Mechelen is the tower of St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, Belgium, and a prominent example of Brabantine Gothic architecture. Construction began in the fifteenth century, but the tower was never raised to the full height envisioned in its original design. It contains a large carill...

The Grosse Cloche is a medieval civic gateway and bell tower in the historic center of Bordeaux, France. Built into the remains of the former Porte Saint-Éloi, it was associated with Bordeaux's old town hall and acquired much of its present Gothic form in the 15th century. Its large bell and promine...

The Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village, NYC, designed by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers in 1877 as a courthouse, features a Victorian Gothic clock tower designated a New York City landmark.

The astronomical clock in St. Mary's Church in Rostock, Germany, is a late medieval mechanical clock dating from the late 15th century. Its elaborate face combines timekeeping with astronomical and calendrical displays, including information about celestial cycles and the calendar. Installed inside...

The Dolmabahçe Clock Tower is a four-story clock tower beside Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, near the European shore of the Bosporus. Completed in 1895 on the orders of Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II, it combines Ottoman decorative elements with a predominantly Neoclassical architectural design. It fo...

The Tallinn Town Hall tower rises from the medieval town hall on Raekoja plats in Tallinn, Estonia. The Gothic town hall reached its present basic form in the early 15th century, while the tower is crowned by a later spire and carries the weather vane known as Old Thomas. The building served the mun...

The Tour Pey-Berland is a freestanding Gothic bell tower beside Bordeaux Cathedral in Bordeaux, France. Construction began in the 15th century under Archbishop Pey Berland, whose name the tower bears, and its separation from the cathedral helped prevent the vibration of its bells from affecting the...

The Messina Cathedral clock tower stands beside the cathedral in Messina, Sicily, and contains a large astronomical clock built by the Strasbourg firm Ungerer. Inaugurated in 1933, the mechanism combines clock and calendar displays with gilded automata representing religious and civic subjects. Its...