Şişli Hamidiye Clock Tower and Şişli Etfal Hospital

Istanbul Şişli district is home to one of the few clock towers in the city from the Ottoman period. With the name of Şişli Hamidiye Clock Tower, II. The building, which was built in 1907 by the order of Abdülhamid; Hamidiye Etfal, dated 1899, is located in the garden of today's Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital. Entrances and exits to the hospital take place from the roads that continue from both sides of the clock tower.

Etfal means "little child" in Ottoman Turkish. Şişli Etfal was originally built as a hospital for children and for this reason it was named “etfal”. The clock tower in the garden of the hospital, which serves all age groups today, was known at the beginning of the 20th century as a place that was basically integrated with a mosque where citizens prayed.

The dome-shaped roof of the clock tower, its marble façade and the half-axle part of the tower draw attention. This resulted in a larger interior space. In addition, the clock tower was designed by Raimondo D'Aronco and made by F. Pellini with the contributions of the Chief Architect of the hospital, Mahmud Şükrü Bey.

The clock tower, which has a height of nearly 20 meters, is surrounded by a section called balcony-cheers, which is supported from below. In fact, it is recorded that the numbers on the first clock on the tower are illuminated at night and are quite beautiful.

On the other hand, this hospital is the first children's hospital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1899, II. When Abdülhamit lost his eight-month-old daughter, Hatice Sultan, to diphtheria; It was built to keep the memory of his daughter alive. For this reason, the building was first named “Hamidiye Etfal Hospital”, then “Osmanlı Etfal Hospital”; In 1922, it was known as "Şişli Etfal Hospital".

This hospital, which has a deep-rooted history, pioneered many developments in the field of medicine throughout its history. Although it is not known by many that it is the first children's hospital in our history, it is one of the works that constitute the historical identity of Istanbul.