Clock Tower Museum

This guide to the Clock Tower Museum in Mecca starts with a controversy: in January 2002, bulldozers took just nine days to level the two-century-old Ottoman fortress that once stood on this hill, drawing comparisons to the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. You'll hear how Saudi officials defended the project and what argument Turkey's Foreign Ministry made against it, before the guide walks you through the museum's galleries on sundials, astronomical instruments and the mechanics of timekeeping. Stand on the balcony for the view the fortress once held.