Clock Tower, Clock tower in Plaza Arturo Prat, Iquique, Chile

The Clock Tower in Plaza Arturo Prat displays four clock faces powered by two bells, a smaller one for quarter-hours and a larger one for marking each hour. The structure is made of Oregon pine with an imported English clock mechanism.

The tower was approved on 14 December 1877 by mayor Benigno Posada and the city council to replace the church clock destroyed by fire in 1873. Its four-faced English clock arrived on the steamer Ibis on 10 December 1878, and the Oregon pine tower, attributed to Manuel Eduardo Lapeyrouse, was running by January 1879. In October 1880 it survived the fire that destroyed much of central Iquique; in 1889 a company of the Pisagua battalion moved it to its present spot on the orders of mayor Ramón Yabar.

The tower's name comes from the clock it houses, a four-faced mechanism brought from England aboard the steamer Ibis in December 1878. Its eclectic design mixes pointed, toothed and lobed arches, recalling Mudéjar art. It stands among the buildings of Plaza Arturo Prat that Patricio Advis cites as representative of the saltpeter period.

The tower stands in the center of Plaza Arturo Prat and is easy to locate and view from the public square. Visitors can observe and photograph it at any time since it remains open and accessible year-round.

The tower originally stood off-centre in the plaza. In 1889, a company of the Pisagua battalion, ordered by intendant Ramón Yabar, moved the wooden structure to its present position. The tower had survived the October 1880 fire that destroyed much of central Iquique, and the plaza was later enlarged over the burnt blocks.