Qashla Clock

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Al-Qishla's two-story building was constructed by the Ottomans in 1861 to serve as an administrative center and the headquarters for their forces. In 1868, the Ottoman military built a 23 meter high tower in the barracks' gardens and installed a clock there - given by Britain's King George V - to help soldiers wake up on time. The monumental clock tower still stands today, serving as al-Qishla's main landmark. The site, which housed British officers during the British mandate period in the early 1920s, also hosted the coronation of King Faisal I, Iraq's first monarch in modern times, and his successor, King Ghazi. After the establishment of the Iraqi republic in the 1950s, al-Qishla's significance gradually decreased over the decades before suffering further neglect and destruction - like other heritage sites in Iraq - following the US-led invasion in 2003. But in 2012, Baghdad's provincial council dedicated funds to restore parts of the site, aiming to revitalize it as a cultural space.