Clock Tower

A clock tower is an architectural structure, either freestanding or built into a larger building, that houses a turret clock with one or more faces on its upper walls. Before personal timekeeping was common, clock towers served communities by ringing bells on a striking mechanism to call people to work or prayer, with visible dials added later so people could check the time for themselves. The earliest known example is the Tower of the Winds in Athens, built around 50 BC under Roman rule, which combined sundials with an internal water clock, and clock towers have since become landmark buildings and symbols of their towns and cities worldwide.