Skopje features a clock tower that once told traders when to close their shops for Muslim prayers. Hexagonal in design and built with a sandstone base and a brick upper half between 1566 and 1573, the tower survived both the 1669 fire and the 1963 earthquake and features a clock mechanism from Szeged in Hungary, brought here after the Ottomans occupied the city in the 16th century. Like the Sultan Murad Mosque that stands beside it, Skopje’s Clock Tower was at the time of our most recent visit undergoing reconstruction work and was half-covered in scaffolding.