Venice 2024 #1 - Campanile di San Marco
Here is a picture from my trip to Venice in the summer of 2024, showing the St Mark's Tower from an interesting perspective, almost at eye level. I took the picture from the dome of the 'Basilica Santa Maria della Salute'. This makes it easy to see how the tower rises beautifully above the roofs of the rest of the city. If you take a closer look, you can also clearly see the visitors to the tower in the large arched windows, which again emphasises the tower's impressive size.
At 98.6 metres high, the St. Mark's Tower is the tallest building in Venice and was therefore ideally suited to its original role as a lighthouse. 'Campanile' refers to a bell tower that is not integrated into a church, but is located next to one. However, the current St Mark's Tower is not in fact the original tower; this collapsed in 1902 due to damage caused by earthquakes, lightning strikes and the installation of a lift. That same evening, it was decided to rebuild the tower exactly as it was ('com'era e dov'era'). The inauguration took place in 1912. Construction of the original tower began between 888 and 911 and was interrupted and adapted several times. The tower reached its final form with the addition of the spire in 1510 and the addition of a statue of the 'Archangel Gabriel' seven years later. To prevent it from collapsing again, the foundations were reinforced with a titanium support ring during the last renovation.¹
¹ https://hallo-venedig.com/markusturm/ (09.10.2024)