Pazardzhik clock tower
Pazardzhik Clock Tower ( Bulgarian Часовникова кула в Пазарджик ) is a clock tower in the central Bulgarian city of Pazardzhik . Previous structures were built during the Ottoman rule over the city, which was then called Tatar Pazarcik , in 1664 and 1741. The tower, which was partially destroyed in 1924, was rebuilt in 2010. Today it is 27 m high.
location
The clock tower of Pazardzhik is located in the center of the old town on Saedinenie Square (Bulgarian площад "Съединение", Eng. Square of the Association) opposite the police building.
history
Pazardzhik was during the Ottoman period, a commercial center and transportation hub, where the "Large military road," the Via Militaris on which was built by the Ottomans caravan route Sarajevo - Pristina - Skopje - Kyustendil - Samokov -Tatar Pazarcik- Konstantin Opel met. The city was founded in 1485 at the fork in the road. A clock tower ( Sahat-Kula ) was built as early as 1664 .
The previous building of today's clock tower from 1741 served as the city clock. Today it is assumed that its ground plan was a hexagonal, octagonal or twelve-sided prism . The actual tower was on a 6 m high platform in the form of a parallelepiped . The clockwork was in a niche in a pyramid-shaped base on the platform. The following inscription was placed above the clockwork:
“Честния Ибрахим ага Хайрулов ни удостои с направата на този часовник, който бие час по чае и” вес по чаедал " |
The honorable Ibrahim Aga Hajrulow honored us with the establishment of this clock, which rings hour after hour and brings joy to the city. |
and the year of construction according to the Ottoman calendar : 1154. The only known images of this clock tower are a photograph by the historian Ivan Batakliew from 1923 and a painting by the painter Stojan Wasilew. According to Batakliew, this clock tower was destroyed down to the base platform in 1924. According to other reports, the tower collapsed during the devastating earthquake of Chirpan one of the 1928th The bell of the tower was kept in the “Georgi Bregow” school until the 1980s, since then it has been considered lost.
reconstruction
The reconstruction of the clock tower took place at the initiative of the " Rotary Club Pazardzhik". The project should be as close to the original as possible. It took about seven years to develop it, secure funding and investigate the old building before construction began on May 24, 2009. At the ceremony, a capsule with the history of the tower and the list of initiators and donors was walled in. Donations were also collected during the construction and the tower was inaugurated on May 21, 2010.
When building today's clock tower, the existing 6 m high platform, which was repaired in some places, was used. A 6 m high pyramid was built above it, which forms the transition to the octagonal prism. In the niche in which the clockwork was located in the previous building, sculptures made by Stefan Lyutakow of the city's patron saints, St. Constantine and St. Helene , were installed. The approx. 10 m high octagonal prism is equipped with a metal staircase. Small windows were built into the walls for lighting. At the top of the tower are four Swiss-made clocks. With the lightning rod on top of the tower, it is 27 m high.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ivan Batakliew: Пазарджик и Пазарджишко , Publishing House Профиздат, 1969, p. 201
- ↑ Tatar Pazarcik in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition., Volume X, page 371, column 1
- ↑ Ivan Batakliew: Град Татар-Пазарджик. Историко-географски преглед , Sofia, publishing house Кооперативна печатница "Гутенберг", 1923, p. 103.
- ↑ a b В Пазарджик започна възстановяването на кула от XVIII век , Dnevnik , accessed February 20, 2011
- ↑ a b pa-media.net: Старата часовникова кула е завършена. Archived from the original on February 20, 2011 ; Retrieved February 20, 2011 (Bulgarian).
Coordinates: 42 ° 11 ′ 37.8 " N , 24 ° 20 ′ 5.8" E