Tirana’s Clock Tower was built in in 1822 by Haxhi Et`hem Bey, who also finished the building of the Et'hem Bey Mosque. The stairs have 90 steps that go in a spiral fashion. It is 35 metres (115 ft) tall and was the tallest building in Tirana at the time. The clock tower originally had a bell from Venice that marked the time every hour. In 1928 the Municipality of Tirana purchased a new clock in Germany to replace the existing one. The clock was destroyed by bombardments during World War II and was replaced in 1946 with a Roman numeral clock from a church in Shkoder. In 1970 the Roman numeral clock was replaced by a Chinese clock. Access to the top of the tower has been available free of charge since 1996.
