St Mark's Clocktower

The Clock Tower in Venice is an early Renaissance building on the north side of the Piazza San Marco, at the entrance to the Merceria.

On a terrace at the top of the tower are two great bronze figures, hinged at the waist, which strike the hours on a bell.

One is old and the other young, to show the passing of time and, although said to represent shepherds (they are wearing sheepskins) or giants (they are huge figures of great mass, necessary so that their form can be recognized at a distance) they are known as "the Moors" because of the dark patina acquired by the bronze.

[1] Below this level is the winged Lion of Saint Mark with the open book, before a blue background with gold stars.

Below this is the great clock face in blue and gold inside a fixed circle of marble engraved with the 24 hours of the day in Roman numerals.

In the middle of the clockface is the earth (in the centre) and the moon, which revolves to show its phases, surrounded by stars which are fixed in position.

On the other side of the tower, there is another great clock face above the arch, visible to people walking down the street towards the Piazza.

Deborah Howard explains how the idea was probably derived by Codussi from Alberti's work 'De re aedificatoria' ("About Building"), published earlier in the 15th century, where he emphasises the importance of towers to a city and the appropriateness of a monumental archway as the entrance to its principal street.

Sanudo wrote in his diary for this day that the clock was uncovered and seen for the first time as the Doge was leaving the Piazza to go to hear vespers at Sta Maria Formosa, adding that it was made with great ingenuity and was most beautiful.

It was arranged that his son should remain in Venice to look after the clock and he was granted flour concessions which would give him a good income.

The Council of Ten decided that a permanent keeper must be appointed to live in a wing of the tower and be responsible to keep the clock in working order.

Later, in 1551, Jacopo Sansovino, then the architect responsible for St Mark's, was instructed to report on the state of the tower and clock.

The bands in the clock face which had previously shown the apparent movement of the planets round a central earth were removed.

Ferracina then turned his attention to the procession of the Magi, which had apparently not worked for many years, and the new mechanism was inaugurated on Ascension Day 1759.

The two 12-hour cycles round the main face of the clock remained until about 1900 when the original 24-hour circle was discovered beneath them and they were removed.

Further adjustments were made in 1953 and the latest, extensive series of repairs and alterations (some causing controversy amongst horologists) were carried out from 1998 to 2006 (five hundred years after the tower and clock were first completed).

Stairways (steep and narrow) inside the building give access to the terrace on the roof, passing the clock mechanism on the way.