Description of the attraction
The Victoria Clock Tower is located near the port of Georgetown, being a kind of visiting card of the city and the island of Penang. Georgetown is a city of history, one of the few fully designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From there, the Europeans began to explore Malaysia. Now it is a city with a record number of colonial buildings - palaces, religious buildings, mansions. The first British construction on the island was Fort Cornwallis. It was erected in 1786 to protect against attacks by pirates from Siam and Burma. A century later, a clock tower appeared next to the fort.
Its construction in 1897 was begun by one of the wealthy Chinese community of Georgetown, Chi Chen Yok. This local Chinese millionaire dedicated the future tower to the anniversary of the British Queen Victoria. The height of sixty feet (18 meters) symbolized the number of anniversary years of the reigning person. Until the completion of construction, in 1902, the queen did not live.
The tower was built in the Moorish style fashionable at the end of the 19th century - with beautiful wall carvings, figured columns and half-columns, decorated with friezes, intricate cornices and other elements of Maghreb architecture.
During the Japanese bombing of the city during World War II, the clock tower tilted slightly from the blast, but resisted. The slope is not too noticeable; in general, the building looks like an elegant addition to the Esplanade and Fort Cornwallis. The Victoria Clock Tower is located in the traffic circle, which allows you to see it from all sides.
The clock on the tower is active, its chime informs the townspeople and tourists the exact time.
