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Begun on pre-existing Roman foundations in the 9th century and rebuilt several
times between the 12th and 14th centuries, the campanile took on its definitive
appearance, after much restoration and reworking, between 1511 and 1514.
It consists of a solid square brickwork frame with lesenes, 12 metres
wide and 49.5 metres high (half its full height of 98.6 metres), and the
arched belfry on which a large dado stands that serves as a base for the
pyramidal spire topped by the golden angel.
Simple, of Roman concept in its severe harmony of line and proportions,
the tower with the shining golden angel set on a rotating platform at
the top has always been the first sight of Venice for those arriving by
sea,. Struck several times by lightning and by earthquakes it continued
its centuries-old life until the beginning of the 20th century.
On 14th July 1902 the campanile suddenly collapsed as a result of imprudent
constructional work. The damage was not irreparable: the "proclamation
stone" at the corner of the church prevented collapse of the corner column,
thus saving the church. The Balcony however was buried under the rubble.
News of the collapse spread throughout the world and the Municipal Administration
resolved that the Campanile should be rebuilt exactly as it had been.
The first stone was laid on 25th April 1903 and nine years later, in 1912,
on St. Mark's day, the new campanile was inaugurated. Externally the building
was a faithful copy but was built, for greater safety and static stability,
in accordance with the more rigorous laws on construction technique. Certain
destroyed parts were reintegrated: on two sides of the dado above the
belfry, alternated with the Justices, the two moving Lions in Istria stone
replaced those sculpted at the time of the fall of the Republic, and the
embossed copper statue of the Archangel Gabriel that topped the tower
was recomposed with the original fragments and almost entirely redone,
copying the old 1822 model.
This history of the campanile is linked to the memory of the traditional
flight of the Angel celebration that took place on the last Thursday before
Lent, a balancing act in which an acrobat descended a tightrope from the
belfry to a boat in the Basin or to the loggia of the Ducal Palace where
the Doge and Lords observed the spectacle.
A visit to the campanile was an attraction offered also in the past to
illustrious guests, though the Lords were cautious in granting permission
to foreigners for fear that they might survey the layout of the city and
its ports for military purposes. Galileo used the campanile as an observatory
to study the skies and it was there in 1609 that he demonstrated his telescope
to the Lords.
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