Saint Mark’s belltower
In Venice, you can still admire many bell towers. The most famous one is that of Saint Mark’s Square. It is called in dialect “el paron de casa” or the landlord as it is the tallest tower in the city. Built in the ninth century, St. Mark’s bell tower collapsed on itself on July 14th 1902. It was rebuilt “as it was and where it was” and inaugurated in 1912.
From this bell tower you have a wonderful view of the city, but let's not forget that the republic of Venice allowed Galileo Galilei to test his telescope from there in 1619 as the inscription says.
From Saint George’s bell tower you have a different perception of the city and a broader view of it.
Saint George’s bell tower
The bell towers had a fundamental function, they were watchtowers and lighthouses, like that on Murano island, still in operation or the square one on Torcello used as a watchtower.
Torcello square tower
Their bells were used to mark the daily life of the city, and it is from those bell towers that the first aerial view map of Venice was drawn in the 1500s by Jacopo de Barbari.
Santa Maria Formosa bell tower
Some towers are leaning, like that of the island of Burano, the lace making island. They lean due to the marshy ground on top of which they were built and the many settlements of the ground.
The tower on Burano has an inclination on the axis of 1,83 m due to the subsidence of the earth.
Burano island and Saint Martin’s belltower
The Greek church tower has the same problem, but it leans less. It was stabilized several years ago when the canal it overlooks was cleaned and excavated.
The Greek church and its leaning tower