Tour de l′Horloge

Much like its neighbour le Grand Serail (the Lebanese government building), the Clock Tower (Tour de l'Horloge) is an Ottoman structure. It was erected in 1897, around the same time that nearly every city in the Levant received a clock tower by the Ottomans. The design is by the Lebanese architect, Youssef Aftimos, who later designed two of the most beautiful edifices in Beirut: the Municipal Building and Barakat Building. The clock tower stands in front of the main entrance of le Grand Sérail on a hill dominating central Beirut.