Islamic State extremists blew up one of Mosul's most famous churches, known as the Clock Church. The clock tower was bought by Empress Eugenie of France, wife of the last Emperor Napoleon III, as a gift to the Dominican Fathers who built the church in the 1870s. The Empress Eugenie was rewarding the Dominican friars' attempts to end an outbreak of typhoid in the city. The Dominican monks had to promise the citizens they would not climb the tower and spy on residents sleeping on their roofs. Many historic sites and Christian shrines, and churches have been destroyed by ISIS in this area. . Mosul has always been known as a city where Sunni Muslims, Christians, Shabaks, Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians and Turkmens all co-existed. It had more than 40 churches and monasteries at the time of the invasion of 2003.
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