The destruction of the historically significant site in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked an outcry and a strong reaction from Turkey. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. It is the world's second most expensive building, with the total cost of construction totalling US$15 billion. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company. The building complex is 300 metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca. The clock tower contains the Clock Tower Museum that occupies the top four floors of the tower. The central hotel tower, which is the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, is the fourth-tallest building and sixth- tallest freestanding structure in the world.

These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The Abraj Al Bait, also known as the Clock Towers ( Arabic: أبراج الساعة, romanized: Abrāj al-Sāʿa, lit.'Towers of the Clock'), is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. SL Rasch GmbH and Dar Al-Handasah Architects Main structural system: reinforced concrete (lower part), steel/concrete composite construction, steel construction (upper part) Ĭladding: glass, marble, natural stone, carbon-/glass- fibre-reinforced plasticĭevelopment: 1,575,815 m 2 (16,961,930 sq ft) (389.4 acres)

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