Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-18
THE NEW CAMPANILE.
No Serious Difficulty in Rebuilding the
Tower

Tower
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
Signor Luca Beltrami, who has been in
trusted by the municipality Of Venice with
the reconstruction Of st. Marks Campanile
is one of the most distinguished architects
and art critics in Italy. AS an authority
on Italian medieval and renaissance arch
itecture he is almost without rival, and
this fact, together with his wide practical
experience, should enable him to accom-
plish his task In the most satisfactory man.
ner. He is most sanguine about the result,
and is convinced that there will be no Seri-
Gus difficulty in rebuilding the famous tow
er exactly as 1t was. In the first place, 1t
will in his opinion, be necessary to widen
the foundations and basis The former are
only five meters deep while the Campanile
itself was 100 meters in height. 1t is not
possible to deepen them, because they are
built Immediately over the wooden piles
which support the city. Examples of build
ings with such shallow foundations in pro-
portion to the height of the superstructure
are by no means uncommon In Italy; the
Temple of Agrippa, in Rome, is a case in
point But it will certainly be advisable
to make the tower somewhat lighter, If pos
sible. The outside walls will be reproduced
identically; the only alterations will be in
the construction of the bell chamber, which
was mostly of marble, and extremely
heavy.
With regard to the materials of the old
Campanile, Signor Beltrami finds that it
was originally built of Roman bricks and
fragments of Romen cement of great solid
ity; but the Venetians in the middle ages
made use of a new cement for repairs. COM
posed of Istrian lime which has proved
far less solid. In order that the stability
of the new building should be above sus-
picion Signor Boni, who has hitherto SUI
perintended the excavations has been try,
ing to produce a kind of brick which shall
be equal in solidity to those used by the
Romans, and believes that he has succeed
ed This admixture of Roman and mediae-
val Internationally occurs In Venice,
and the earlier material has invariably
proved to be of greater strength. The Ro-
man bricks used were usually taken from
the ruined city of Altinum, on the main
land Signor Beltrami does not think that
the collapse of the Campanile was due to
the subsoil having sunk, but is now study
ing the question in order to be quite sure.
The level of the piazza San Marco has been
slightly raised in the course of centuries,
SO that the Campanile as 1t existed before
it's fall was exactly seventy centimetres
lower than 1t was in the sixteenth century,
when the bell chamber was added. But
in the reconstruction the question of height
will depend on the state of foundations.
If these prove to be satisfactory, the base
will be widened and the tower Will be re-
built as 1t stood lately, without the ad-
ditional seventy centimetres. If. however,
1t is found advisable to reconstruct the
whole of the foundations. it MAJ be posi-
BILE to raise it to it's original height The
question of the loggia of Sansovino is
closely connected with that of the founda-
lions, and Signor Beltrami intends to re-
build it on the same base as the Campanile,
which will be an advantage; when it was
on a separate base, although built up
against the tower, the static movement of
the latter weakened it's stability. In reply
to an interviewer who asked him if there
would be any difficulties in reproducing
both the tower and the loggia in every de-
A,sI l. sold fhar q q ha
essary Observation-Disclosures plans, eleva-
lions, etc.-have been preserved. AS re-
CARDS the loggia. the bronze figures have.
fortunately, been very slightly damaged,
and the fragments of the terra cottas can
be easily put together again. Signar Bel
trami will not express any opinion to
how long the reconstruction will take, but
the work has already been begun.