Makedon Kulesi

The Macedonian Tower, also known as the Macedonia Tower or the Old Clock Tower, is the only tower to survive from the walls that once encircled ancient Hadrianopolis in the Kaleiçi district of Edirne. The Kültür Portalı presents it as one of the towers at the four corners of the walls of Hadrianopolis, the city founded by the Roman emperor Hadrian. According to Turkish Archaeological News, the tower's name is usually explained by its orientation towards Macedonia. After its restoration the tower is now a museum visited under the name Edirne Macedonia Tower Museum. The tower's date is debated, and sources give two different views. The Kültür Portalı, Wikipedia and the Demirören News Agency attribute the building to the time of Hadrian, that is, the 2nd century. Turkish Archaeological News, however, reports that the first line of the walls dates from the Roman period, while the second line and a defensive tower were built in the 10th century, during the Byzantine period, against Bulgarian attacks, according to inscriptions. The tower's banded body of alternating stone and brick courses reflects this long and layered history. The safest way to read the tower is as part of a fortification system that goes back to Roman times. According to Turkish Archaeological News, the walls of Edirne stood until the middle of the 19th century and were demolished between 1866 and 1870. The stones taken from the walls were used to build a hospital, a school, government buildings and a barracks. Of the four corner towers only this one was preserved, and it was turned into a clock tower. The governor of Edirne, Hacı İzzet Pasha, had wooden storeys added on top of the tower and clocks installed; the Kültür Portalı dates this to 1866-1867, while Turkish Archaeological News dates it to 1884. According to the Kültür Portalı, the clock here was long known as the People's Clock. The wooden section was demolished in 1894 and replaced by a new clock tower of stone and brick. For a time the tower was also used as a fire watchtower. The building was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1953, and the upper section holding the clock was later demolished. For many years after that the tower could only be seen from outside. A model of the Edirne Clock Tower in the clock tower park in Safranbolu shows that the building's former appearance is still remembered. Excavations around the tower that began in the 1990s and continued until 2003 uncovered important remains from the Roman and Byzantine periods. According to Wikipedia, these include kilns from the 2nd century used for making pottery and mud-brick buildings thought to have served as granaries. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism took the tower into restoration in December 2021, and excavations were carried out around it at the same time. According to news reports, the tower opened as a museum in July 2026 after about four years of work. The museum displays more than a hundred archaeological pieces, combining finds from inside the tower and the Kaleiçi district with pieces preserved in place. Ceramics, glassware, oil lamps, coins, jewellery and everyday objects from the Roman, Eastern Roman, Ottoman and Republican periods are on show in the cases. The most striking piece in the collection is a head of an Odysseus statue dated to the 2nd century BC, found in excavations in Kaleiçi in 1977. A fire brigade bugle recalling the tower's years as a fire watchtower is also among the objects on display. The garden around the tower has been laid out as an archaeological park; here you can see a Byzantine pottery kiln, an Ottoman ice house dated 1908 and the foundations of late Ottoman houses. Visitors can take a lift to the upper part of the tower and then walk down through the floors, following the city's history period by period. The viewing terrace offers a chance to see the roofs of Kaleiçi and the historic buildings around them from above. According to Turkish Archaeological News, the tower stands on Mumcular Street, near the Üç Şerefeli Mosque and the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Bath, and is only 500 metres from the Selimiye. It is easily reached on foot through the narrow streets of Kaleiçi. As you walk among the Roman wall remains beside the archaeological park, notice the size of the stone blocks. Check visiting hours and admission conditions with official sources.