Marking Time, Marking Movement: Mexico City's Ottoman Clock Tower as a Transnational Expression of Immigrant Identity

An ornate Ottoman clock tower unexpectedly permeates the skyline of Mexico City’s historic district, marking the century-long presence of a significant Arab immigrant community in the country. A diplomatic gift donated by Lebanese émigrés to President Porfirio Días on September 9, 1910, the clock displays an innovative ornamental and architectural hybridity, bearing Spanish and Middle Eastern decorative tile work motifs and numerals in both Roman and Arabic scripts. By tracing the development of Ottoman clock towers in the capital, provinces and immigrant periphery in Mexico City, I argue that over time, these structures transformed from symbols of sovereignty into colorful expressions of local, collective identity.