The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-17
cAMPANlLE OF ST. MARK.
Description of the Famous Tower
That Fell the other Day.
From the New York Times.


From the New York Times.
Dominating, as it did, all the sur
rounding buildings in the famous
Square of ST. Mark the Campanile,
which was demolished yesterday, was
the most conspicuous of ali the land
marks of Venice. 1t rose sheer above
the highest pinnacles of the famous
church. and had stood there, visible
from a considerable distance from the
city. for a little over thousand years.
In the early days of the republic
men stood on the tower to watch for
home coming vessels, and the news Of
many a victory was signaled TO the
anxious citizens in this way. But the
tower was also used for the purpose
which its name signifies. According to
some authorities, four bells were rung
for various purposes One sounded at
dawn to call the laborers, another
opened the Official bureaus, a third
called the councils. and the fourth toll
ed out the requiem of persons who
were to be executed. Calico made
many observations from the tower.
The Campanile was Begun by the
Doge Puerto Tribune in the year SSS.
In 1929 it was restored; nearly a CEN
fury later it was provided with its
stone top, and in 1917 the figure of the
angel was placed at the summit.
AT the foot of the Campanile was the
Logetta, or Loggia, built by the ia
nous sculptor and architect Jacopo
Sansovino in 1910 as a meeting place
for the mobiles of Venice. 1t was Itch
~ adorned with rehefs, and had bronze
statues of Minerva, Apollo. Mercury,
and a God of Peace, all by Sansovino.
The bronze doors of the vestibule were
regarded as masterpieces. The Loggia
was not long used for its original pur-
pose. 1t became a waiting room for
the commanders of the guards curing
the sessions of the Great Council. Re
Gently it had been used for auctions
and lottery drawings.
The Campanile was built of brick.
1t was 1926 feet high and AZ feet square,
on stone base, simply decorated with
slight pilasters. The upper part was
an open lantern with pyramidal roof,
and on the apex was the fine colossal
statue of an angel formed of plates
of gilt bronze on a wooden core.
The Campanile was built on a foun-
dalton of ten-foot piles of white pop
lar, close driven into the stiff clay.
Above was a double layer of oak
planks, and above them rough foot
ings of trachyte and other volcanic
stones. Other buildings in Venice have
founda tons of the same kind, but
many are still built on another plan.
without piles but with wider footlngs.
There was no staircase in the tower,
the ascent being made by a winding
inclined plane of thirty-eight bends.
ending in a few steps. The entrance
TO the tower was by a small door on
the west side. Visitors to Venice usu-
ally chose the sunset hour for ascend
ing the tower, when, from the summit,
wonderful view of the city and its
surroundings could be obtained. In
deed, to ascend the tower was the only
way to understand the intricute plan
of the city, which from the top of the
Campanile was spread out like a map,
with all its spires and churches and
distant islands, while beyond could be
seen the snowy Alps The tower was
also open, but visitors were not al
lowed TO enter it alone. A single trav-
eler had to engage a bystander to en-
ter with him. At the top, even in
modern times, was always stationed a
Waterman, but not for the same pur-
pose for which a sentinel stood there
in the days of Venices greatness. The
Waterman of modern days carried
telescope, but it was not to scan the
horizon for vessels bringing news of
victory, but to look for fires in the city
and to give notice of them
1t may be supposed that there will be
a searching inquiry into the cause of
the fall of the tower. Venice spends a
large sum annually on keeping her ia
nous monuments in order, and a num-
Der of officials have nothing to do but
10 examine the historic buildings of
the city and report on their condition.
Every trace of decay is supposed to be
observed, and money is available for
immediate repairs If they are neces-
sary. Among the officials employed by
Venice are some of the leading archae-
ologists of Italy.
The last previous great calamity
which Venice suffered by the destruc-
ton of an artistic treasure was in 1867.
when fire in the Chapel of the Ros-
airy of the Church of SIS. Giovanni and
Paolo burned one of Titian's chief mas
terpieces, the great picture of St Peter
Martyr OF all the famous Venetian's
works this was the most daring in de-
sign of action, while it was regarded
as being quite the equal of anything
else he produced in other respects.
however, this disaster, great as it was,
was hardly as grave as the loss of the
Campanile, for an excellent copy of the
st. Peter Martyr by Cardi da Cigoli is
IN existence, and has been placed over
the Altar of the Rosary where the orig
lnal once stood