St Mark's Campanile
St Mark's Campanile (Campanile di San Marco in Italian) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, located in the square (piazza) of the same name. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.
The tower is 98.6 metres (323 ft) tall, and stands alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, near the front of the basilica. It has a simple form, the bulk of which is a plain brick square shaft, 12 metres (39 ft) wide on each side and 50 metres (160 ft) tall, above which is the arched belfry, housing five bells. The belfry is topped by a cube, alternate faces of which show walking lions and the female representation of Venice (la Giustizia: Justice). The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire, at the top of which sits a golden weathervane in the form of the archangel Gabriel. The campanile reached its present form in 1514. As it stands today, however, the tower is a reconstruction, completed in 1912 after the collapse of 1902.
History
The initial 9th-century construction, initiated during the reign of Pietro Tribuno and built on Roman foundations[citation needed], was used as a watch tower for the dock, which then occupied what is now Piazzetta dei Leoncini. Construction was finished in the twelfth century, during the reign of Domenico Morosini. The base of the campanile is part of the logetta which housed the barracks of the guard for the Doge's Palace. The logetta was built by Sansovino, completed in 1549 and extended in 1663.
Repeated restoration
Seriously damaged by a fire in 1489 that destroyed the wooden spire, the campanile assumed its definitive shape in the sixteenth century thanks to the restorations made to repair further damage caused by the earthquake of March 1511. These works, initiated by the architect Giorgio Spavento, then executed under the direction of Bartolomeo Bon of Bergamo, added the belfry, realized in marble; the attic, on which was put the sculpture of the lion of Saint Mark and Venice; and the spire, in gold leaf. The work was completed on 6 July 1513, with the placement of the gilded wooden statue of the Archangel Gabriel in the course of a ceremony recorded by Marin Sanudo.
In the following centuries numerous other interventions were made to repair the damage caused by fires. In 1653, Baldassarre Longhena took up the restorations. More work was done after a fire on April 13, 1745, which caused some of the masonry to crack, and killed several people as a result of falling stonework. Finally, in 1776, the campanile was equipped with a lightning rod. In 1820, the statue of the angel was replaced with a new one by Luigi Zandomeneghi.
Collapse and rebuilding
In July 1902, the north wall of the tower began to show signs of a dangerous crack that in the following days continued to grow. Finally, on Monday, July 14, around 9:45 am, the campanile collapsed completely, also demolishing the logetta. Remarkably, no one was killed, except for the caretaker's cat.[1] Because of the campanile's position, the resulting damage was relatively limited. Apart from the logetta, only a corner of the Biblioteca Marciana was destroyed. The piera del bando, a large porphyry column from which laws used to be read, protected the basilica itself.
The same evening, the communal council approved over 500,000 Lire for the reconstruction of the campanile. It was decided to rebuild the tower exactly as it was, with some internal reinforcement to prevent future collapse. Work lasted until March 6, 1912. The new campanile was inaugurated on April 25, 1912, on the occasion of Saint Mark's feast day, exactly 1000 years after the foundations of the original building had allegedly been laid.[2]
Influence
The original Campanile inspired the designs of other towers worldwide, including the clock tower at King Street Station in Seattle,[3] Brisbane City Hall, Australia, the Rathaus (Town Hall) in Kiel Germany, the MetLife Tower in New York City, the Daniels & Fisher Tower in Denver, the Campanile in Port Elizabeth- South Africa, Sather Tower, nicknamed the Campanile, on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, 14 Wall Street, and the right-hand bell-tower of St. John Gualbert, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.[4]
Replicas of the current tower sit on the complex of The Venetian, the Venice-themed resort on the Las Vegas Strip, its sister resort The Venetian Macao, and in the Italy Pavilion in the Walt Disney World's Epcot Park.
There is a superb mill chimney in Darwen, Lancashire which is modelled on the Campanile in St. Mark's Square, Venice called India Mill.
Twin towers imitating the Campalile adorn the Placa Espanya in Barcelona, Spain.
Bells
Each of the five bells of the campanile had a special purpose. The Renghiera (or the Maleficio) announced executions; the Mezza Terza proclaimed a session of the Senate; the Nona sounded midday; the Trottiera called the members of the Maggior Consiglio to council meetings and the Marangona , the biggest, rang to mark the beginning and ending of working day.
Gallery
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The Campanile from the west -
The Campanile from the south
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View, vertical section and ground-plans (1831) before the crash – the reconstruction is nearly identical -
Top of the tower -
Detail of the tower -
Detail of the tower
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In popular culture
The 1902 collapse of the Campanile plays a role in American novelist Thomas Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, in which an aeronautical battle between ambiguously fictitious airships results in the spectacular fall of the structure.
The Campanile, along with much of the city of Venice, appears in the video game Assassin's Creed 2, in which the playable character, Ezio, can scale the tower in the years 1480-1499 to view the city from on-high.
The Japanese manga Gunslinger Girl by Yu Aida is set in Italy. Volume 11 of the series revolves mainly around terrorists taking over the Campanile and the subsequent battle with the authorities.
Venice-themed Japanese anime Aria the OVA: Arietta depicts a walk to the top of St. Mark's Campanile, via the pedestrian ramp path, which is no longer accessible to the general public.
References
- ^ Produced, written and directed by David DeVries (2003-11-04). "Inviting Disaster 4". Modern Marvels. The History Channel.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Iain Fenlon, Piazza San Marco, page 147, Profile Books, 2009
- ^ Seattle Historical Society (1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form" (PDF). National Park Service, Department of Interior. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Finacom, Steven. "Berkeley Landmarks: Sather Tower (Campanile)". Retrieved 2008-03-05.
External links
