travelingidahogirl

Venice’s Campanile

On Piazza San Marco, the bell tower is not the most magnificent building—I mean, it’s hard to stand out when you’re situated near St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. But it is the tallest structure (323 feet--fortunately, there is a 14-person elevator), and I think it has an elegant beauty to it. (Apparently, I'm not the only one. In preparation for my trip to Barcelona, I've learned that the Placa d'Espanya has two bell towers modelled on this campanile.) The red brick tower topped by the green roof and golden angel is simple. At the base (on the front side--picture is the back side) is the Loggetta, kind of an arch- and column-filled porch with some marble reliefs. The white arches and columns are again repeated at the top viewing deck.

It is still partially undergoing construction at the base. The foundation gave out in 1902 and the old one fell. I guess they’re trying to avoid a repeat. Actually, it’s a little unsettling to see how many of Venice’s church bell towers are leaning, but this one looks straight to me.

Although the ticket is pricey (8 euro), I was pleasantly surprised at the great views. My mom had been up it on a previous visit, and kept asking if I’d gone up yet. I wouldn’t say it was a can’t-miss sight, but if the day is clear and the line not long—which was the lucky combo we had—I would say do it. Otherwise, it is probably skippable because it's too expensive.

The view is amazing. You can see all of Venice, over to the mainland, Lido, Murano, etc. It definitely gave me a whole new perspective of Venice—I loved how so many of the churches rose above the sea of roofs. It also provided a good view of San Marco Square, even better than the one from the terrace of the Basilica.




And we were able to time it so we were there when the bells rang-- really cool. We were there at noon (and we only waited a few minutes to get in—on a Wednesday—I think we just really lucked out), and it was fun to hear the bell towers in the distance, knowing that ours would be chiming in momentarily. I thought it would be much more deafening because I assumed they all would get going, but only one of the four (five?) bells rang.



It was a quick thing to visit (at least it would be without a line) and I don’t see how you could get that view without doing it. I guess the bell tower on the San Giorgio island gives you a good way to see the lay of the lands too, but you wouldn’t be able to just look down on San Marco Square, which was my favorite scene of the afternoon.

posted by travelingidahogirl @ 4:00 PM