A few things about this waymark: I visited Istanbul back in 1999. It was a great experience! We also visited the Galata tower. On this day the smog was very thick and strong, so it was hard to see the things down there. After 20 years later I discovered today that I took pictures of a time ball! You could imagine how thrilled I was, a time ball in Turkey! :o I know these pictures are not the best, I had no digital camera in 1999. The best pictures you can get of the time ball is from the tower. I hope other waymarkers will visit this great time ball and will add some more/better photos in the future.
Some more infos about the British Seaman’s hospital in Istanbul:
"The British Navy Hospital was first built in Istanbul in 1855 after being needed in the Crimean War.
It is located in Karaköy district, Bereketzade Mosque Street. The first hospital building, built in 1855, was replaced in 1904 by the British architect H. Percey Adams. This building, which is considered as a contemporary interpretation of Gothic architecture, now serves as eye education and research hospital.
It was commissioned by the British government in 1855 for sailors. Until 1924, the British Embassy managed the hospital and covered its operating expenses by charging a flat fee per tonne for British-flagged merchant ships arriving in Istanbul. The hospital, which has a square plan and a three-storey structure, was considered the best of the civilian hospitals in Istanbul in 1874.
Initially, only officers and sailors on ships carrying British banoys were entitled to treatment at the hospital. Following agreements with the British government, Swedish and Norwegian navy personnel were also allowed to benefit from the hospital. In 1904, the present six-storey building was built, which architect Percy Adams drew on his project. At the point where the wings of the L-shaped structure meet, small towers rise, in the middle of which a higher tower is built to make the British flag visible in the Beyoglu skyline. After World War I,the tower of the building was used to spy on British ships.
According to the decision taken at the 1913 International Clock Congress in Vienna, thanks to signals from the Eiffel Tower it was decided to bring a time ball from London to announce the Greenwich clock to the city, and at the cabinet meeting of the Ottoman cabinet on February 15, 1914, cabinet members decided that 990 liras of this sphere, which cost 1000 liras, should be paid by the Navy Nazâreti. Although it was intended to place the time ball at the top of the Galata Tower, this decision was later changed and the time ball was placed in the hospital building and activated in May 1915.
The building was transferred by the British to the Red Crescentin 1924 after the proclamation of the republic in Turkey. In 1933, the Red Crescent transferred the building to the Istanbul Municipality. The time ball in the building was dismantled in February 1930 to be transferred to galatatower. The building was used as Rabies Hospital between 1937 and 1948. Between 1948 and 1993, he served as Beyoglu Municipal Hospital. It was the first municipal hospital in Istanbul. In 1993, Prof. Dr. Resat Belger State Eye Hospital of the Ministry of Healthbecame the state eye hospital." (
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