FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
If we visit Tirana, Kavaja, Elbasan, etc., we will notice something in common between them, that in the central squares of these cities we will see towers built in the Ottoman period, which served as clock towers, all of these were built in the 19th century. But we do not see such a thing in Durrës, why?! According to documents and photos found in the Central State Archive, after the earthquake of December 1926, which caused a lot of damage in Durrës, the Italian state also offered to help the Albanian state authorities, bringing specialists to Durrës to assist in the demolition of damaged buildings and as part of this operation, from the photos we will see that Red Cross workers, together with the army, are demolishing several buildings, including the Durrës clock tower.
Fortunately, this is shown by the photos taken by the master Ymer Bali, who captured this moment. Although we recognize its existence through numerous photos from those years, which show that the tower was there. In the foreground when seen in the photo, it resembles a tower with the bell of a church, which is often discussed on social networks! But whose church?! The question remains unanswered!
Since it has been mentioned little in some of the city's authors, in my research in the State Archives and beyond, I was able to find some facts to prove that Durrës had a clock tower, and this is confirmed by documents.
Fact?! Durrës at the end of the 19th century became a Sanxhak (prefecture) of the Shkodra vilayet, and as a Sanxhak it had other Kaza (Municipalities) such as Tirana, Shijak, Kavaja and Kruja under its control. Naturally, as the capital of the prefecture it was, Durrës could not have lacked a clock tower.
Currently, there is no trace of it today and very few people in Durrës know that it was located next to the municipality, where the bust of Hafiz Ali Podgorica is located today, above the Turkish wall which is still there. The existence of a clock tower in Durrës is confirmed by documents found in the Ottoman archive of Istanbul.
Through the Ottomanologist Ermal Nurja, I managed to secure a translated document that states: “Addressed to the General High Inspectorate of the Vilayets of Rumelia, His Highness, clothed in power! (After the occasional eulogy).
I present to you with immense joy that the quarantine room, the clock tower and the checkpoint of the Durrës city pier have been built from the foundations (i.e. they are new, not previous constructions) and their inauguration will take place on the happy day ahead (the next anniversary of the enthronement of Sultan Abdulhamit II, which is August 19).
The order and the decree belong only to the owner of the case. Date of the act July 27, 1907 Mytesarif of Durrës Kazim (seal)”(1)So from this document dated July 27, 1907 where the Mytesarif of Durrës addresses the high general inspectorate of the vilayets of Rumelia, and informs them that the quarantine room, the port post-block and the clock tower are new facilities built from scratch and the date for their inauguration would be set as August 19, the day that coincides with the enthronement of Sultan Abdulhamit II”.
From this document we confirm that the tower was a relatively new construction (with a clock with sounds), that is, from the early 20th century and not like the towers of Tirana, Kavaja, Elbasan, etc., which are constructions of the 1800s (but the fact that the tower is being built from scratch does not exclusively exclude the idea that there may have been another tower before, this document simply shows that the last time a clock tower was built in Durrës was this year, that is, 1907).
Why wasn't the clock tower rebuilt in the same place? There may be several hypotheses for this, one of which, and the most convincing, is that after the 1926 earthquake, the construction of civil and state buildings began in earnest, along with houses and commercial buildings in Durrës, the construction of the municipality building began.
The building would be positioned at the beginning of "Liria" Square, where according to the project it would be 3 floors + 1 basement floor, and above the building in the corner of the left wing, a clock would be built which would have a mechanism manufactured in Germany by the company "Eduard Korfhage and Daughter" and two bells (2).
I think this was a significant reason not to rebuild it in its previous position, but to integrate it into the municipality building./ Memorie.al
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