Venice Masterpiece : the Torre Dell'Orologio in Venice

The Torre dell'Orologio in Piazza San Marco in Venice (the The Clock Tower on St. Marks' Square) is of huge importance, both practical, historical and symbolic in the history of Venice. The clock displays the time of day, the dominant sign of Zodiac and the current phase of the moon and it’s an extraordinarily elaborate timepiece.

The clock tower was created by the father-and-son team of Giampaolo and Giancarlo Rainieri, engineers from Reggio Emilia in Italy. They were commissioned to create ‘the most excellent clock of extraordinary beauty”. 

Upon its completion, on 1 February 1499, the two master mechanics became its custodians, the start of a five-century tradition whereby the keepers lived with their families inside the tower. And this rather contradicts the legend that the Senate, the Doge, had the creators blinded on completing the clock, jealous that they would go on to repeat the marvel elsewhere. 

With a restoration of the clock mechanism by Swiss clock-makers Piaget in 2001, the 500-year-old timepiece is still going strong, keeping perfect time and continue to be a true beautiful masterpiece of St. Marks Square.

From Venice With Love,

Giada

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