Sa'at Tower also known as Tabriz Municipality Palace (, also

Romanize In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

d as Sā'at Tower) is a building in Tabriz which is used as the city hall and main office of the municipal government of Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The Municipality Palace features a hall, a clock tower, and a small garden.

History

Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was used by the Azerbaijan Democrat Party as the Government Office. When Iranian troops regained control of Tabriz in 1947, the building was again used as the Tabriz municipal central office. In the early 2000s parts of it became a municipal museum. During the 1980s, in an attempt to install an elevator, one of ''Sa'ats patios was damaged. The dome at the top of the Sa'at tower was reconstructed in 2008, with a new khaki coloured fiber glass replacing the original silver coloured dome. Since 2007, part of the building houses the Municipal Museum.

Architecture

The building has an area of about 9,600 square meters and 6,500 square meters of infrastructure built on three floors. Tabriz Municipality Palace has a four-page clock tower with a height of 30.5 meters with the rhythmic resonance of its bells, every hour, it brings the passage of time to the ears of the people of Tabriz. The exterior of the building is carved out of stone and the plan of the building is similar to the design of a flying eagle, which corresponds to the example of buildings in Germany before World War II.

Museum of Municipality

In recent years parts of the building is reorganized as municipality museum of Tabriz. File:TabrizMunicipalityNorooz.jpg, Northern side of Sa'at Tower and municipality building from Sa'at square. Saat 2.jpg, Former bell of Sa'at Tower which was damaged during the Russian invasion of Tabriz during

. The bell was later replaced by a new one. File:Saat, rug gallery.jpg, Main hall of Sa'at tower, currently used as a show room for Tabriz municipality's rug collection. File:StainedGlassWindows-TabrizMunicipality.jpg, Interior of Sa'at tower, under the southern Iwan. File:Saat Tower 2016-13 golden key of Tabriz gate.jpg, Golden key of Tabriz. File:Saat Tower 2016-6 old telephones.jpg, Some of the equipment presented in municipality museum. File:Saat Tower 2016-3.jpg, Basement passage of municipality building. File:Saat Tower 1930s.jpg, Sa'at under construction, 1930s. File:Saat Tower garden, Tabriz, Iran.jpg, Western side of Municipality Building and Sa'at Tower, a view from the municipality garden.

Ceremonies

Since Sa'at Tower is located in the center of the city, it has been used for various ceremonies and gatherings in the city. * '' Iranian new year'', at the beginning of every new Iranian Year (20 March), a big Haft-sin is made behind Sa'at. * '' Earth hour'', since 2014 Tabriz celebrates the earth hour by turning off the lights for Sa'at Tower.

Etymology

Sa'at means "clock", which refers to the four face clock in top of the tower.

References

External links

{{Portalbar, Iran Towers in Iran Museums in Tabriz Government buildings completed in 1934 Buildings and structures in Tabriz Government buildings in Iran Politics of East Azerbaijan province 1934 establishments in Iran