St Mark's Clocktower

Interesting facts

The Kroch high-rise in Leipzig, built in the late 1920s, was modelled on the Venice clock tower, complete with bronze bell-strikers on its roof.

The two Moors were originally gilded and were long described as shepherds or giants; only their darkening bronze earned them their present name.

Who modelled the Moors is disputed: tradition credits Paolo Savin, but a 1984 study argued for Antonio Rizzo; they were cast by Ambrogio delle Ancore.

The bell they strike is signed by its founder, Simeone Campanato, and is one of the original fittings of the 1490s.

In the 1750s Bartolomeo Ferracina replaced the clock's medieval foliot escapement with a more accurate pendulum.

For a time the dial carried a 12-hour ring that hid the original 24-hour marble circle, which was uncovered again around 1900.

The digital panels showing hours and minutes were once lit by gas at night, and the mechanism behind them did not run reliably until 1866.

By 1663 the Magi no longer appeared daily, and after years out of action their procession was revived with new machinery on Ascension Day 1759.

The Virgin and Child above the dial are made of gilded beaten copper, not cast metal or stone.

The back of the tower carries a second, simpler dial with two sets of twelve-hour markings.

Why it is worth it

The Clock Tower on the north side of Piazza San Marco in Venice is a Renaissance showpiece built both to tell the time and to proclaim the wealth of the Republic: it was set where its great dial could be seen from the lagoon. Its lower two storeys form a tall archway through which the Merceria, the main shopping street, leaves the square on its way to the Rialto — joining the political and religious centre of the city to its commercial heart. The tower was built in 1496–97, probably to a design by Mauro Codussi, and clock and tower were unveiled together on 1 February 1499.

Read the facade from the top down. On the roof terrace two huge bronze figures, one old and one young, swing from the waist to strike the hours on a bell cast at the Arsenal in 1497; they are known as the Moors because of the dark patina of the bronze, and were cast in 1494. Below them the winged lion of St Mark stands against a blue field of gold stars; a kneeling statue of Doge Agostino Barbarigo in front of it was removed by the French in 1797. Next comes a gilded Virgin and Child in a small gallery, flanked by two blue panels that show the hour in Roman numerals and the minutes, in steps of five, in Arabic ones. At Epiphany and Ascension an angel with a trumpet leads the three Magi out of a side door to bow to the Virgin before disappearing through the other.

At the bottom is the great dial itself, blue and gold within a marble ring engraved with the 24 hours. A golden sun travels round it as the hour hand; inside, the gilded signs of the zodiac — originals of the 1490s — turn slowly to show the sun's position, and at the centre the moon revolves to show its phases around the earth. The clockwork was made by Gian Paolo and Gian Carlo Ranieri of Reggio Emilia and has been reworked many times since, notably by Bartolomeo Ferracina in the 1750s and most recently in a long restoration completed in 2006. The wings on either side of the tower were added by 1506 and raised by two storeys in the 1750s.

The tower is one of the civic museums of Venice. Guided visits climb the steep, narrow stairs past the clock mechanism to the terrace of the Moors.

Getting there

The tower stands on Piazza San Marco in the centre of Venice. Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) is about 8 km away.

From the encyclopaedia

The Clock Tower in Venice is an early Renaissance building on the north side of the Piazza San Marco, at the entrance to the Merceria. It comprises a tower, which contains the clock, and lower buildings on each side. It adjoins the eastern end of the Procuratie Vecchie. Both the tower and the clock date from the last decade of the 15th century, though the mechanism of the clock has subsequently been much altered. It was placed where the clock would be visible from the waters of the lagoon and give notice to everyone of the wealth and glory of Venice. The lower two floors of the tower make a monumental archway into the main street of the city, the Merceria, which linked the political and religious centre with the commercial and financial centre. Today it is one of the 11 venues managed by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

St Mark's Clocktower

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

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From the encyclopaedia