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All the United Kingdom Scotland Edinburgh Millennium Clock Tower

Millennium Clock Tower

The dance of this huge clock is a magnificent and eerie commentary on good and evil in the history of humankind.

Edinburgh, Scotland

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About

Imagine a clock a couple of stories tall, with all its innards visible, that strikes over several minutes in a performance set to colored lights and music. The various levels of the clock "awaken" from the floor up. These gradations depict a different stage of a church's construction, from crypt, nave, belfry, to spire. Figures and colors at the bottommost level evoke a scene of Hell, although the wonderful classical music is majestic from the beginning without being ominous.

Subsequent levels break into motion in sequence, each containing kinetic statuettes of figures from history—dictators like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin appear—as well as various visual references to scientific progress and human achievement, but also genocide and other self-inflicted tragedies of humankind. At the top-most clock level is a rotating display of ivory figures, partly in chains, and at the very top of the structure all is summarized by a pieta. These effigies represent the 12 months of the year with a corresponding misfortune, for instance; December/ Pandora's Box or July/ War Camps.

The complexity and artistry of the Millennium Clock are overwhelming, and the warning and tragedy profound, but it also offers a perverse sort of hope: that if humans are this aware of the danger and misery of their history, perhaps we can still find and accept redemption? The clock is worth seeing even when it is quiet; it is moving and mesmerizing when it strikes.

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Clocks History Culture Machines Time

Know Before You Go

The clock doesn't strike every hour; it's best to call ahead and find out the current schedule.

Museum is free to enter and the clock tower is located on the second floor, across from the atrium of the Grand Gallery, near the Discoveries Gallery.

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Flavors of Scotland: Beyond the Haggis

Smoked seafood, single malt whisky, and warm hospitality.

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nancy a neff

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Mom0ja, SEANETTA, Meg, Collector of Experiences...

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  • SEANETTA
  • Meg
  • Collector of Experiences
  • rbenn250
  • Archimedes
  • jyackabonis

Published

June 19, 2019

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Millennium Clock Tower
Chambers Street
Edinburgh, Scotland
United Kingdom
55.947042, -3.189051
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Photo of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Scotland

Places 184
Stories 7

Nearby Places

Cramond Lioness

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

Rooftop Terrace at the National Museum of Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Scotland

Places 184
Stories 7

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