Clock towers... The tallest building in Saudi Arabia

What takes the light on the Big Ben came and they are the clock towers. Currently, it is the largest clock in Al Ghalem and the largest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia. He and six other towers form what is known as the King Abdul Aziz Endowment or Abraj al-Bayt, which is located in the courtyard of the Holy Mosque in Mecca, and its main gate is located facing the King Abdul Aziz Gate in the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Clock Tower is the second tallest tower in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and it is in the middle of the seven towers, and it is the fifth tower of them, and the clock built above can be seen from all neighborhoods of Makkah, and not only that, there is more to learn about.

Clock tower specifications

It was completed in 2012 with a height of about 601 meters, so that everyone can see and hear it from all sides, from a distance of up to 13 km. In addition, its façade diameter is more than 40 meters making it the largest clock in the world. The watch consists of four faces, the front and rear faces are 43 meters by 43 meters and the side faces are about 43 meters by 39 meters. In the middle of the clock of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Saudi national emblem, we can also see the largest takbeer pronunciation (God is great) in the world above the clock, where the length of the letter Alif in the word "Majesty" reaches more than 23 meters.

The crescent is also 23 meters in diameter, making it the largest crescent made to date, and the two shahadas, "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", can be seen above the two side faces of the watch. The watch is designed in the Islamic style according to the strictest safety standards from a base level that contains a balcony for visitors located under the four clock faces and the total weight of the Makkah clock is 36,000 tons. The watch was built on a steel case weighing approximately 12,000 tons, and the steel case consists of about 14,000 unique pieces that have been elaborately crafted and some of the heavier pieces weigh approximately 16 tons.

More than 250 highly skilled ironworkers welded the steel structure parts at the height mentioned above, seven cranes were used at the top of the clock tower to carry out installation and installation work, and four permanent cranes were added above the four hours with a capacity of six tons each for maintenance work. The watch is supplied with electrical energy through solar panels, in addition to the public electricity grid in Makkah.

The most important feature of the clock towers

The watch is covered with more than 98 million pieces of colored glass mosaics, more than 2 million photovoltaic units, and 430 square meters of upgraded carbon fibre. The height of the Makkah clock from its base to the highest point at the top of the crescent reaches 251 meters, in addition to that the Makkah clock time is set to the independent Makkah time, which takes its information from 5 high-precision atomic clocks that form the main part of the Makkah Time Center, in addition to linking the Makkah Time Center to the World Time Network (UTC) based in Paris.

A number of the best and most skilled engineers from Switzerland, Germany, and some other European countries designed the clock tower internally until it became a unique architectural masterpiece. The clock tower consists of 60 floors, including 26 and the role of a hotel, and the floors of royal suites, and the rest are apartments and luxury residential units. The tower also consists of 1930 residential units. Inside the tower, there are 50 elevators, and it is considered the best residential area in the world, and its design is filled with Islamic motifs inspired by Islamic heritage. Moreover, the clock towers have a unique museum and mall.

Clock Towers Mall

Inside the tower, there is a large mall that is considered one of the best and most prestigious shopping centers in Makkah. The five-storey shopping mall features nearly 4,000 shops and shops, where visitors can find everything from essentials to souvenirs and branded clothing. There is also a large food court with a wide range of delicious restaurants.