About Clock Tower (Abraj Al-Bait) and Museum
The central tower of the Abraj Al-Bait, a group of seven buildings facing the south facade of the Sacred Mosque, is 601 m tall and opened in 2012. Each of the clock's four faces is 43 m in diameter, and the dial can be seen from about 25 km away. The complex stands on the site of the 18th-century Ottoman fortress of Ajyad, which was demolished to make way for it; the lower floors house hotels and a shopping center.
The top four floors house the Clock Tower Museum, opened in 2019, with rooms on the universe, the Sun and the Moon and the instruments used to measure time. At the base of the spire, a science center is used to observe the crescent moon that marks the start of the months of the Islamic calendar.
