The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-19
CAMPANILE OF ST. MARK.
Description of the Famous Tower
 That Fell the Other Day.

New York Times. 7, .tt h.
 Dominating. as it did. all ths surrounding buildir gs in the tamous Square of St. Mark. the 'sampanile, which was dsm1llshed Sester- day. was the most conspicuous Of all he land highest pinnacles of ths fam"Ls church. an1 had stood there. visible from a considerable distance. from. the city, for little over thousand years.
 In the early days of the republic men stood on the tower to watch for homecoming yes sells, and the news of many victory was signaled to the anxious cit.zens in this way. But the tower was also used for the purpose which its name signifies. According to some purposes. One sounded at dawn to call the laborers. another opened the official bureaus third called the councils, and the fourth tolled out the requiem. If persons who were to be executed. Calico made many observa- tions from the tower
 Pierto Tribune in the year sss, In 1929 it was restor.d nearly a century later 1t was pro vided with its stone top. and in lSn the
 At the foot of the Campanile was the l1o- getta, or Loggia. built by the fam:us sculp- 2 meeting place for the nobles of Venice IL was richly adorned with relefs, and had bronze statues of Minerva, Apollo Mercury. and a God of Peace. all by Sansoino The bronbe doors of the vestibule were regarded as masterpieces. The Loggia was not long used for its original purpose, It became ths a guards during the sessions of the Great Coun- ell Recently 1t had been used for auctions
 
 The Campaniie was built of brick. It was s2s feet high and 42 feet square on stone base simply decorated with slight piiastsets pis.s ]. The upper part an epen lsntern ~itn pyramidal roof, and on the apex was the me colossal statue of an angel, formed or plates of gilt bronze on woS0eR S,t core o foundation of ten-foot oiles of white pt plar, close dIlVen into the stin clay, Above was double layer of oak blanks, and above them rough footlnss of trachyte and other volcanic stones Other buildings in Venice have foundations Of the same kind. but many are sun oulit on ,oot-
 There was no staircase in the tower. the ascent being made by winding inclined plane of thirty-eight bends. ending in few steps The entrance to the tower was by small oTor on the west side. Visitors to Venice usuaS .aE chose the sunset hour for ascending the tower when from the summit a wonderful Jew or the city and It's surroundings could be obtained to understand the intricate plan of the citv. which from the top of the CempanIe W4s spread out like map with ah @ ,i.,1s hsvonS o could be seen the snowy Alps The tower was also open, but isftors were not allowed to enter it alone. single traveller had 10 10 the top. even in modern times, was always stationed watchman, bat not Tor tne eAahe n the days of Venices greatness. The watch man of modern days carried telescope, out 1t was not to scan the horizon tCr ,or Sres in the city and to give notice of them.
 It may be supposed that there VII De of the tower. Venice spends large sum annually on keeping her famous monuments in order and a huber of officials have notn- ing to do but to exaine the historic buildings of the city and report on their condition Every trace of decay is supposed to be oo- Tenairs if they are necessary. Among the of ncials epioyed by Venice are soc of the lead- ing archaeolosists of Itala. .,.A
 The last previous great calamity Whlch Venice suffered by the destruction of an ar tistic treasure was in 1887, when nrs m m the Chapel of the Rosary of the Chnrcn oI chief masterpieces. the great picture of St Peter Martyr Of all the famous venetian s action while it was regarded as being qufte the equal of anything else he produced in other respects Howe4r. this disaster, great as ~ campanile for an excellent copy or tne ~, Peter Martyr by Cardi da Cigoli is m ex, \, tLo posar,, uhare the original once stood