Torre Dell'orologio

Lonely Planet review

The Clock Tower, an early-Renaissance gem built by Mauro Codussi on the north flank of Piazza San Marco, is a fitting timepiece for the grand square. The clock work was considered such a work of genius that it is said its designer (from the region of Emilia) was blinded to prevent him repeating the feat anywhere else! Unlikely, as he and his family moved in to look after maintenance. Their descendents only moved out of the tower in 1996!

The blue enamel and gold-leaf clock face shows not only the time but the position of the sun, the lunar phases and the signs of the zodiac. On the small terrace atop the tower, two dark bronze Mori (Moors, so called because of the patina of the bronze rather than intentional design by their makers in 1497) strike the hour on a huge bell. At midday and midnight, a hammer strikes the same bell no less than 132 times! On rare occasions (the Epiphany and the Ascension) you can also see 18th-century wooden statues of the Three Wise Men preceded by an angel parade past a statue of the Virgin Mary and child on the level below the Mori.