the four faced clock, atop the abraj al bait towers in mecca, saudi arabia


a giant clock in the muslim holy city of mecca began ticking last wednesday on the first day
of the fasting month of ramadan in saudi arabia. the four-faced clock project will be fully
operational after a three-month trial period.

the royal clock, designed by german premiere composite technologies company, sits atop
a skyscraper just 50 meters away from the grand mosque in the city. the clock was designed
to be the world's largest - six times larger than london's big ben.

the 577-meter mecca clock royal tower also features a lunar observation center and an islamic
museum. situated in the heart of the massive abraj al-bait complex  comprising hotels, shopping
malls and conference centers - the clock will run on arabian standard time, three hours ahead
of the universal GMT ( standard. each of the clock's four faces are 151 feet in diameter and will
be illuminated by 2 million LED lights, along with huge arabic script reading: 'in the name of allah.'
another 21,000 white and green colored lights, fitted at the top of the clock, will flash to as far as
19 miles to signal islam's five-times daily prayers. read more



construction of the clock - the diameter of the dial is around 40 meters
photo AFP



photo AFP









initial rendering of the the abraj al bait towers in mecca with the giant clock



the height of the tower in comparison to the rest of the world's towers