San Marco Clock Tower

Venice sometimes can be completely calm and confidently called The city of frozen time . And in fact, new buildings here find almost impossible. He is an old, this city. Here, times and era are intertwined very tight. And often, passing on some channel, you can easily be at the building of the XIII century, which is completely calm and peacefully neighboring the Palace of the century XVIII. Bridges, passes under the houses are in their places with centuries, telling us about the time of their childhood.

But the most amazing thing that Counting time , and very accurate, in Venice leads. In the very center of the city, on Piazza San Marco Hosts amazing beauty building – San Marco Clock Tower (Torre Dell&# 8217; OROLOGIO) . It is here without a small Poltlyhelliya And today is one of the pearls to decorate the Crown of Venice, which Piazza San Marco is considered right.

Building Tower Lined at such a place so that her clock is visible far from the water of the lagoon. The watches themselves are richly decorated, quite engaged in. Their device and appearance, including serious dimensions, were to have all and everyone to talk about the wealth of Venice.

On the upper terrace There are two gigantic Figures Mavrov , who beat off the clock into a huge bell. Floor below on the facade – Figure of the winged lion of the Holy Brand . Sometime nearby the crankshadic figure of Dadza Agrostino Barbarigo, in which the tower was built, but Napoleon ordered this statue to remove. Below is the semicircular gallery with the statue of the Virgin Mary with a baby in his arms. On the sides of the statue there are two blue panels: the left shows the clock, right moments.

Twice a year , On the Epiphany and Ascension, the panels open and the figure of angel and three wals, which, moving along the gallery, are going to the gallery, which, moving along the gallery, welcome the Virgin. Below is a huge dial with designations 24 hours of day, Golden arrows Shows exactly watch . Inside this dial built-in a separate circle with zodiac signs, which rotates slower than the golden clockwise and shows Sun position in the zodiac . At the bottom of the Tower – an impressive arch , which starts trading Mercheriya street .

How to get to the San Marco clock tower

Clock Tower on the map

View of the tower and clock

Once at Piazza San Marco, the clock tower will not be able to force you. This is essentially, Gate to the city itself . If you consider Piazza San Marco with a luxurious front entrance, then through the arch in the clock tower you can pass and join the Venetian streets and alleys.

Stopping Vaporetto:

• "San Zaccaria" (routes number 1, 2, 4.fourteen.2, 5.15.2),
• "San Marco Giardinetti" (routes from Marco Polo Airport),
• San Marco Vallerasso (Routes №№1 and 2).

They will deliver you to Piazza, and at the same time and to the tower. Leaving the piazzette from two columns, you will see it immediately between San Marco Basilica and Campanite .

On the clock tower You can rise in the excursion group . Excursion must be pre-order.

Excursion schedule Takovo:

• in Italian held every day at 12:00 and 16:00,
• in English – at 10:00 and 11:00 (from Monday on Wednesday), at 14:00 and 15:00 (from Thursday to Sunday),
• in French – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 14:00 and 15:00, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday – at 10:00 and 11:00.

In our, there are no excursions.

The ticket costs 12 Euro .

What to do on the San Marco clocky tower

Through a narrow door in the arc , which takes away the guests of the city with Piazza San Marco on Mercheriya Street, you will raise into Left Flygel Tower . See cautious rooms for the clocks that the centuries lived here, it can be said without going from a combat post. Further will show you The device of the clockwork .

The clock consists of several departments: Huge dial , floor above – are located Window with shields , showing hours and minutes. There is also a device, rolling in special religious holidays Angel figurines with pipe And three Volkhvov.

You will see service rooms stored in the corners Exterior Stone Parts of the Clock Mechanism . Watch for centuries of existence and work was repeatedly repaired, reconstructed and improved. Even the appearance has changed several times. You will be told about the history of the attached to the tower. Once she was one of the highest buildings on Piazza San Marco. But the drawdown of the soil forced to attach two flaggels to the tower to give strength and stability of the tower itself.

Then you will raise On the viewing platform , Where cost Two bronze figures , Highly chopping down with hammer into a huge bell, the offensive of a new hour and together with him all the number of hours. These figures, young and old, symbolize the time, change generations. Call them differently. Due to its size, and these sizes are impressive, they first called Giant . Now, because of the darkened appearance, From the name of the maras . But if you judge clothes, and these are skins, then most likely, Initially Figures were either hunters, or shepherds.

From this observation deck you will open Amazing View . You, how to look at the top into the transition from the hallway to the room at home called Venice . Clock tower Shares Piazza San Marco and the city itself. You will find yourself on the very border between the free, full of air with the space of Piazza and the narrow, close streets of Venice, built up so that sometimes it seems that there is no air there at all.

You will be driving to lead before the new hour before, before the Mauri will begin to beat the bell. And it will be completely correct: the power of the sound is that you can very seriously damage the drummers. The sound of the bell is heard almost all over Venice.

History of the San Marco Clock Tower

His history is the hour tower begins From the end of the XV century . Once the main clocks in the city were non-working church watches San Jacomo-In-Rialto . It was logical because the whole business life of the city was boiling on Rialto . The ships came there and unloaded, everything was done there. Rialto time impact was an analogue of the current city in London. But still the main entrance to the city was Piazza San Marco, and the rulers of the city were concerned that it was here that the city clock should be.

In 1490 The clock installed at the corner of the cathedral was unusable. After three years, the government instructed the construction of new hours Family Ranieri , a in 1496 The construction of the Tower began.

Exactly unknown, but still, according to legend, according to architectural style, the author of the project and the construction manager was Mauro Coduccchi . Built the tower very quickly, almost in a year . A couple of years left on the device inside the clock mechanism. AND February 1, 1499 The tower was solemnly open. Seven years later, two flaggels were attached to the tower of stability and greater strength, in this way the tower in a single Piazza ensemble, having connected it with the prosecution building.

Several times during these centuries the tower was restored and strengthened. These work ordered the best architects, among whom George Massari. The clock during your existence was also repeatedly repaired by the best watchmakers. But it is important to note that for all five hundred years of its work hours never stopped . Time in Venice and the world they always beat back.