File:Niğde Kale 1227.jpg

English: Many cities will have a kale, a fortress on a hill. There is no certainty about its construction, but the 10th century, in Byzantine times, is most probable. During the Anatolian Seljuk time of Kılıçarslan II (1155-1192), Rüknettin Suleyman Şah II (1196-1204) and Alâeddin Keykubat I (12201237) it attained its principle form.

Though the defences seem to have gone, the kale is still a fine place, partly turned into a park, with two mosques, the Alâeddin, and the Rahmaniye. In the Republic the castle has been used as a prison, later it was overhauled and landscaped.

The clock tower dates from 1901-2. It was constructed at the southwest corner of the inner castle by half knocking down the tower there and then filling it. There are four sections to the tower that outwardly resembles a minaret. Clock towers did not appear in the Ottoman empire until the 19th century, the first examples in Anatolia are even from the early 20th century, accelerated by an edict of Sultan Abdulhamit in the 25th year of his accession. Only 50 of the then current style exist.