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Original scientific paper

Catholic church bells from Ottoman clock towers in the Bosnian Eyalet To glorify God, summon believers, and mourn the departed

Ante Škegro ; Croatian Institute of History


Full text: croatian pdf 9.342 Kb

page 295-313

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Full text: english pdf 9.342 Kb

page 295-313

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Abstract

The sound of Church bells in the Ottoman clock
towers is truly quite rare now, not just in the territory
of the former Bosnian Eyalet but anywhere in the former
Ottoman Empire. The bells on the clock tower in
Prusac near Donji Vakuf in the western part of central
Bosnia and also in Gornji Vakuf, roughly 20 kilometres
away, rang from the mid-17th to the beginning of
the 18th century. Until the final decades of the 19th century
and the onset of the First World War, bells could
still be heard in roughly ten clock towers. Before their
installation in clock towers, the clappers inside the
bells were removed, for time was measured by metal
rods that struck the bell from outside. Apart from the
bells in the clock towers of Donji Vakuf and Sanski
Most, all trace of the others in north-east Bosnia was
lost. As opposed to church spire bells installed to “glorify
God, summon believers and mourn the departed”,
the bells in clock towers were exclusively served to
measure time.

Keywords

church bells; clock towers; Bosnian Eyalet

Hrčak ID:

152698

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/152698

Publication date:

23.12.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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