Venice - St Mark's Campanile

Venedig - Markusturm

 

seen from Dorsoduro / Punta della Dogana

 

gesehen von Dorsoduro / Punta della Dogana

 

St Mark's Campanile (Italian: Campanile di San Marco, Venetian: Canpanièl de San Marco) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. The current campanile is a reconstruction completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At 98.6 metres (323 ft) in height, it is the tallest structure in Venice and is colloquially termed "el paròn de casa" (the master of the house). It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city.

 

Located in Saint Mark's Square near the mouth of the Grand Canal, the campanile was initially intended as a watchtower to sight approaching ships and protect the entry to the city. It also served as a landmark to guide Venetian ships safely into harbour. Construction began in the early tenth century and continued sporadically over time as the tower was slowly raised in height. A belfry and a spire were first added in the twelfth century. In the fourteenth century the spire was gilded, making the tower visible to distant ships in the Adriatic. The campanile reached its full height in 1514 when the belfry and spire were completely rebuilt on the basis of an earlier Renaissance design by Giorgio Spavento. Historically, the bells served to regulate the civic and religious life of Venice, marking the beginning, pauses, and end of the work day; the convocation of government assemblies; and public executions.

 

The campanile stands alone in the square, near the front of St Mark's Basilica. It has a simple form, recalling its early defensive function, the bulk of which is a square brick shaft with lesenes, 12 metres (39 ft) wide on each side and 50 metres (160 ft) tall. The belfry is topped by an attic with effigies of the Lion of St Mark and allegorical figures of Venice as Justice. The tower is capped by a pyramidal spire at the top of which there is a golden weather vane in the form of the archangel Gabriel.

 

Historical background

 

The Magyar raids into northern Italy in 898 and again in 899 resulted in the plundering and brief occupation of the important mainland cities of Cittanova, Padua, and Treviso as well as several smaller towns and settlements in and around the Venetian Lagoon. Although the Venetians ultimately defeated the Magyars on the Lido of Albiola on 29 June 900 and repelled the incursion, Venice remained vulnerable by way of the deep navigable channel that allowed access to the harbour from the sea. In particular, the young city was threatened by the Slavic pirates who routinely menaced Venetian shipping lanes in the Adriatic.

 

A series of fortifications was consequently erected during the reign of Doge Pietro Tribuno (in office 887–911) to protect Venice from invasion by sea.[7] These fortifications included a wall that started at the rivulus de Castello (Rio del Palazzo), just east of the Doge's Castle, and eventually extended along the waterfront to the area occupied by the early Church of Santa Maria Iubanico. However, the exact location of the wall has not been determined nor is its duration beyond the moment of crisis indisputable.

 

Integral to this defensive network, an iron harbour chain that could be pulled taut across the Grand Canal to impede navigation and block access to the centre of the city was installed at the height of San Gregorio. In addition, a massive watchtower was built in Saint Mark's Square. Probably begun during the reign of Tribuno, it was also intended to serve as a point of reference to guide Venetian ships safely into the harbour, which at that time occupied a substantial part of the area corresponding to the present-day piazzetta.

 

Construction

 

The defensive system begun under Pietro Tribuno was likely provisional, and construction may have been limited to the reinforcement of pre-existing structures. Medieval chronicles suggest that the laying of the foundation for the tower continued during the reigns of his immediate successors, Orso II Participazio (in office 912–932) and Pietro II Candiano (in office 932–939). Delays were likely due to the difficulty in developing suitable construction techniques as well as locating and importing building materials. Some of the early bricks dated from the late Roman Empire and were salvaged from ruins on the mainland. For the foundation, alder piles, roughly 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in length and 26 centimetres (10 in) in diameter, were driven into a dense layer of clay located around 5 metres (16 ft) below the surface. The piles were topped with two layers of oak planking on which multiple layers of stone were laid.

 

Fabrication of the actual tower seems to have begun during the brief reign of Pietro Participazio (in office 939–942) but did not progress far. Political strife during the ensuing reigns of Pietro III Candiano (in office 942–959) and, particularly, Pietro IV Candiano (in office 959–976) precluded further work. Under Pietro I Orseolo (in office 976–978), construction resumed, and it advanced considerably during the reign of Tribuno Memmo (in office 979–991). No further additions were made to the tower until the time of Domenico Selvo (in office 1071–1084), an indication that it had reached a serviceable height and could be used to control access to the city. Selvo increased the height to around 40 metres (130 ft), which corresponded with the fifth of the eight present windows. Doge Domenico Morosini (in office 1147–1156) then raised the height to the actual level of the belfry and is credited with the construction of the bell tower. His portrait in the Doge's Palace shows him together with a scroll that lists the significant events of his reign, among which is the construction of the bell tower: "Sub me admistrandi operis campanile Sancti Marci construitur...".

 

Belfry and spire

 

The first belfry was added under Vitale II Michiel (in office 1156–1172). It was surmounted by a pyramidal spire in wood that was sheathed with copper plates. Around 1329, the belfry was restored and the spire reconstructed. The spire itself was particularly prone to fire due to the wooden framework. It burned when lighting struck the tower on 7 June 1388, but it was nevertheless rebuilt in wood. On this occasion, the copper plates were covered in gold leaf, rendering the tower visible to distant ships in the Adriatic. Marcantonio Sabellico records in his guide to the city, De Venetae urbis situ (c. 1494), that mariners looked to the gilded spire as a 'welcoming star':

 

Its peak is high such that the splendour of the gold with which it is sheathed manifests itself to navigators at 200 stadions like a star that greets them. (Summus apex adeo sublimis ut fulgor auri quo illitus est ad ducenta stadia ex alto navigantibus velut saluberrimum quoddam occurrat sydus.)

 

The spire was once again destroyed in 1403 when flames from a bonfire lit to illuminate the tower in celebration of the Venetian victory over the Genoese at the Battle of Modon enveloped the wooden frame. It was rebuilt between 1405 and 1406. Lightning again struck the tower during a violent storm on 11 August 1489, setting ablaze the spire which eventually crashed into the square below. The bells fell to the floor of the belfry, and the masonry of the tower itself cracked. In response to this latest calamity, the procurators of Saint Mark de supra, the government officials responsible for the public buildings around Saint Mark's Square, decided to rebuild the belfry and spire completely in masonry so as to prevent future fires. The commission was given to their proto (consultant architect and buildings manager), Giorgio Spavento. Although the design was submitted within a few months, the estimated cost was 50,000 ducats, and financial constraints in the period of recovery from the wars in Lombardy against Milan (1423–1454) delayed construction. Instead, Spavento limited repairs to the structural damage to the tower. A temporary clay-tile roof was placed over the belfry, and the bells that were still intact were rehung. The outbreak in 1494 of the Italian wars for the control of the mainland precluded any further action.

 

On 26 March 1511, a violent earthquake further damaged the fragile structure and opened a long fissure on the northern side of the tower, making it necessary to immediately intervene. Upon the initiative of procurator Antonio Grimani, the temporary roof and the belfry were removed and preparations were made to finally execute Spavento's design. The work was carried out under the direction of Pietro Bon who had succeeded Spavento as proto in 1509. To finance the initial work, the procurators sold unclaimed objects in precious metals that had been deposited in the treasury of St Mark's in 1414 for a value of 6,000 ducats. By 1512, the tower itself had been completely repaired, and work began on the new belfry made in Istrian stone.

 

The four sides of the brick attic above have high-relief sculptures in contrasting Istrian stone. The eastern and western sides have allegorical figures of Venice, presented as a personification of Justice with the sword and the scales. She sits on a throne supported by lions on either side in allusion to the throne of Solomon, the king of ancient Israel renowned for his wisdom and judgement. This theme of Venice as embodying, rather than invoking, the virtue of Justice is common in Venetian state iconography and is recurrent on the façade of the Doge's Palace. The remaining sides of the attic have the lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of the Venetian Republic.

 

On 6 July 1513 a wooden statue of the archangel Gabriel, plated in copper and gilded, was placed at the top of the spire. In his diary, Marin Sanudo recorded the event:

 

On this day, a gilded copper angel was hoisted above Saint Mark's Square at four hours before sunset to the sound of trumpets and fifes, and wine and milk were sprayed in the air as a sign of merriment. (In questo zorno, su la piazza di San Marco fo tirato l’anzolo di rame indorado suso con trombe e pifari a hore 20; et fo butado vin e late zoso in segno di alegrezza.)

 

A novelty with respect to the earlier tower, the statue also functioned as a weather vane, turning so that it always faced into the wind. Francesco Sansovino suggested in his guide to the city, Venetia città nobilissima et singolare (1581), that the idea of a weather vane atop the new tower derived from Vitruvius’ description of the Tower of the Winds in Athens which had a bronze triton mounted on a pivot. But the specific choice of the archangel Gabriel was meant to recall the legend of Venice's foundation on the 25 March 421, the feast of the Annunciation. In Venetian historiography, the legend, traceable to the thirteenth century, conflated the beginning of the Christian era with the birth of Venice as a Christian republic and affirmed Venice's unique place and role in history as an act of divine grace. As a construct, it is expressed in the frequent representations of the Annunciation throughout Venice, most notably on the façade of St Mark's Basilica and in the reliefs by Agostino Rubini at the base of the Rialto Bridge, depicting the Virgin Mary opposite the archangel Gabriel.

 

As recorded by Marin Sanudo, structural work on the tower terminated in June 1514. The remaining work was completed by October 1514, including the gilding of the spire.

 

Later history

 

Throughout its history, the bell tower remained susceptible to damage from storms. Lightning struck in 1548, 1562, 1565, and 1567. On each occasion, repairs were carried out under the direction of Jacopo Sansovino, responsible as proto for the maintenance of the buildings administered by the procurators of Saint Mark de supra, including the bell tower. The work, funded from the accounts of the procurators, was typically executed by carpenters provided by the Arsenal, the government shipyards. The tower was damaged twice in 1582.

 

In the following centuries, it was repeatedly necessary to intervene and repair the damage caused by lightning. In 1653, Baldassarre Longhena took up repairs after lightning struck, having become proto in 1640. The damage must have been extensive on this occasion, given the repair cost of 1,230 ducats. Significant work was also necessary to repair damage done after lightning struck on 23 April 1745, causing some of the masonry to crack and killing four people in the square as a result of falling stonework. The campanile was again damaged by lightning in 1761 and 1762. Repair costs on the second occasion reached the considerable sum of 3,329 ducats. Finally, on 18 March 1776, the physicist Giuseppe Toaldo, professor of astronomy at the University of Padua, installed a lightning rod, the first in Venice.

 

Periodic work was also needed to repair damage to the tower and the statue of the archangel Gabriel from wind and rain erosion. The original statue was replaced in 1557 with a smaller version. After numerous restorations, this was in turn substituted in 1822 by a statue designed by Luigi Zandomeneghi, professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia.

 

The tower remained of strategic importance to the city. Access to visiting foreign dignitaries was allowed only by the Signoria, the executive body of the government, and ideally at high tide when it was not possible to distinguish the navigable channels in the lagoon. On 21 August 1609, Galileo Galilei demonstrated his telescope to the procurator Antonio Priuli and other nobles from the belfry. Three days later, the telescope was presented to doge Leonardo Donato from the loggia of the Doge's Palace.

 

Collapse and rebuilding (1902–1912)

 

Collapse

 

When the lean-to stalls were removed from the sides of the bell tower in 1873–1874, the base was discovered to be in poor condition, but restoration was limited to repairing surface damage. Similarly, excavations in Saint Mark's Square in 1885 raised concerns for the state of the foundation and the stability of the structure. Yet inspection reports by engineers and architects in 1892 and 1898 were reassuring that the tower was in no danger. Ensuing restoration was sporadic and primarily involved the substitution of weathered bricks.

 

In July 1902, work was underway to repair the roof of the loggetta. The girder supporting the roof where it rested against the tower was removed by cutting a large fissure, roughly 40 centimetres (16 in) in height and 30 centimetres (12 in) in depth, at the base of the tower.[98] On 7 July, it was observed that the shaft of the tower trembled as workmen hammered the new girder into place. Glass tell-tales were inserted into crevices in order to monitor the shifting of the tower. Several of these were found broken the next day.

 

By 12 July, a large crack had formed on the northern side of the tower, running almost the entire height of the brick shaft. More accurate plaster tell-tales were inserted into the crevices. Although a technical commission was immediately formed, it determined that there was no threat to the structure. Nevertheless, wooden barricades were erected to keep onlookers at a safe distance as pieces of mortar began to break off from the widening gap and fall to the square below. Access to the tower was prohibited, and only the bell signalling the beginning and end of the work day was to be rung in order to limit vibrations. The following day, Sunday, the customary band in Saint Mark's Square was cancelled for the same reason.

 

The next morning, Monday 14 July, the latest tell-tales were all discovered broken; the maximum crack that had developed since the preceding day was 0.75 centimetres (0.30 in). At 09:30 the square was ordered evacuated. Stones began to fall at 9:47, and at 9:53 the entire bell tower collapsed. Subsequent investigations determined that the immediate cause of the disaster was the collapse of the access ramps located between the inner and outer shafts of the tower. Beginning at the upper levels, these fell one by one atop the others. Without their support, the outer shaft then caved in against the inner shaft. Because the tower collapsed vertically and due to the tower's isolated position, the resulting damage was relatively limited. Apart from the loggetta, which was completely demolished, only a corner of the historical building of the Marciana Library was destroyed. The basilica itself was unharmed, although the pietra del bando, a large porphyry column from which laws were read, was damaged. The sole fatality was the custodian's cat. That same evening, the communal council convened in an emergency session and voted unanimously to rebuild the bell tower exactly as it had been before the collapse. The council also approved an initial 500,000 lire for the reconstruction. The province of Venice followed with 200,000 lire on 22 July. Although a few detractors of the reconstruction, including the editorialist of the Daily Express and Maurice Barrès, claimed that the square was more beautiful without the tower and that any replica would have no historical value, "dov’era e com’era" ("where it was and how it was") was the prevailing sentiment.

 

Rebuilding

 

n addition to the sums appropriated by the commune and the province, a personal donation arrived from King Victor Emmanuel III and the queen mother (100,000 lire). This was followed by contributions from other Italian communes and provinces as well as private citizens. Throughout the world, fund raising began, spearheaded by international newspapers. The German scaffolding specialist Georg Leib of Munich donated the scaffolding on 22 July 1902.

 

In autumn 1902, work began on clearing the site. The fragments of the loggetta, including columns, reliefs, capitals, and the bronze statues, were carefully removed, inventoried, and transferred to the courtyard of the Doge's Palace. Bricks that could be used for other construction projects were salvaged, whereas the rubble of no use was transported on barges to the open Adriatic where it was dumped. By spring 1903, the site had been cleared of debris, and the remaining stub of the old tower was torn down and the material removed. The pilings of the medieval foundation were inspected and found to be in good condition, requiring only moderate reinforcement.

 

The ceremony to mark the commencement of the actual reconstruction took place on 25 April 1903, St Mark's feast day, with the blessing by the patriarch of Venice Giuseppe Sarto, later Pope Pius X, and the laying of the cornerstone by Prince Vittorio Emanuele, the count of Turin, as the king's representative. For the first two years, work consisted in preparing the foundation which was extended outward by 3 metres (9.8 ft) on all sides. This was accomplished by driving in 3076 larch piles, roughly 3.8 metres (12 ft) in length and 21 centimetres (8.3 in) in diameter. Eight layers of Istrian stone blocks were then placed on top to create the new foundation. This was completed in October 1905. The first of the 1,203,000 bricks used for the new tower was laid in a second ceremony on 1 April 1906. To facilitate construction, a mobile scaffold was conceived. It surrounded the tower on all sides and was raised as work progressed by extending the braces.

 

With respect to the original tower, structural changes were made to provide for greater stability and decrease the overall weight. The two shafts, one inside the other, were previously independent of each other. The outer shell alone bore the entire weight of the belfry and spire; the inner shaft only partially supported the series of ramps and steps. With the new design, the two shafts were tied together by means of reinforced concrete beams which also support the weight of the ramps, rebuilt in concrete rather than masonry. In addition, the stone support of the spire was replaced with reinforced concrete, and the weight was distributed on both the inner and outer shafts of the tower.

 

The tower itself was completed on 3 October 1908. It was then 48.175 metres (158.05 ft) in height. The following year work began on the belfry and the year after on the attic. The allegorical figures of Venice as Justice on the eastern and western sides were reassembled from the fragments that had been recovered from the ruins and were restored. The twin effigies of the winged lion of Saint Mark located on the remaining sides of the attic had already been chiselled away and irreparably damaged after the fall of the Venetian Republic at the time of the first French occupation (May 1797 – January 1798). They were completely remade.

 

Work began on the spire in 1911 and lasted until 5 March 1912 when the restored statue of the archangel Gabriel was hoisted to the summit. The new campanile was inaugurated on 25 April 1912, on the occasion of St Mark's feast day, exactly 1000 years after the foundations of the original building had allegedly been laid.

 

Elevator

 

In 1892, it was first proposed that an elevator be installed in the bell tower. But concerns over the stability of the structure were voiced by the Regional Office for the Preservation of Veneto Monuments (Ufficio Regionale per la Conservazione dei Monumenti del Veneto). Although a special commission was nominated and concluded that the concerns were unfounded, the project was abandoned.

 

At the time of the reconstruction, an elevator was used to raise the new bells to the level of the belfry, but it was only temporary. Finally, in 1962, a permanent elevator was installed. Located within the inner shaft, it takes 30 seconds to reach the belfry from the ground level.

 

Restoration work (2007–2013)

 

At the time of the reconstruction, the original foundation was extended from approximately 220 square metres (2,400 sq ft) to 410 square metres (4,400 sq ft) with the objective of distributing the weight of the bell tower on a larger base and reducing the load from 9 kilograms (20 lb) to 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) per 1 square centimetre (0.16 in2). This was done by driving additional piles into the clay. Three layers of oak planks were then laid on top of the piles followed by multiple layers of Istrian stone blocks. However, the old and the new foundations were not successfully fused into a unified whole, and they began to subside at different rates. As a result, cracks in the new tower were already visible in 1914 and multiplied over time. A monitoring system, installed in 1995, revealed that the tower was leaning by 7 centimetres (2.8 in).

 

Beginning in 2007, the Magistrato alle Acque, responsible for public works, reinforced the foundation, adopting a system used to consolidate the façade of St Peter's Basilica in Rome. This involved placing four titanium tension cables, 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in diameter, around the perimeter of the stone foundation. Two of the cables, placed 20 centimetres (7.9 in) apart within a single protective polyethylene tube, are located 40 centimetres (16 in) below the surface of the square and are anchored at the four corners of the foundation by titanium pillars. Two more cables are located at a depth of 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) and are held by granite blocks. These cables are monitored and can be tightened as necessary. The project, initially projected to last two and half years, was completed after five years in April 2013.

 

Influence

 

The campanile inspired the designs of other towers worldwide, especially in the areas belonging to the former Republic of Venice. Similar bell towers, albeit smaller, exist at the Church of San Rocco in Dolo, Italy, at the Church of San Giorgio in Piran, Slovenia, and at the Church of Sant'Eufemia in Rovinj, Croatia.

 

Other towers inspired by St Mark's campanile, particularly in the aftermath of the collapse of the original tower, include:

 

the mill chimney of India Mill (1867) in Darwen, Lancashire, United Kingdom

 

the Sretenskaya church (1892) in Bogucharovo, Tula region, Russia

 

the right-hand bell-tower of St. John Gualbert (1895) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States

 

the clock tower at King Street Station (1904–1906) in Seattle, Washington, United States

 

the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (1905–1909) in New York City, New York, United States

 

the Daniels & Fisher Tower (1910) in Denver, Colorado, United States

 

14 Wall Street (1910–1912) in New York City, New York, United States

 

the Rathaus (Town Hall) (1911) in Kiel, Germany

 

the Custom House Tower (1913–1915) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

 

the Sather Tower (1914) on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

 

North Toronto Station (1916) in Toronto, Canada

 

Brisbane City Hall (1920–1930) in Brisbane, Australia

 

the Campanile (1922–1924) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

 

the Tribune Tower (1923–1924) in Oakland, California, United States

 

the Venetian Towers (1927–1929) in Barcelona, Spain

 

the tower at Jones Beach State Park (1930), Long Island, New York, United States

 

As symbols of Venice, replicas of the campanile also exist at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada and at its sister resort The Venetian Macao in Macao; at the Italy Pavilion at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida; and at the Venice Grand Canal, Taguig in Manila, Philippines.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Markusturm (italienisch Campanile di San Marco) ist der Campanile (Glockenturm) des Markusdoms in Venedig. Seine Höhe beträgt 98,6 Meter, damit ist er das höchste Gebäude Venedigs. Ursprünglich diente seine Turmspitze den Schiffen als Leuchtturm.

 

Der Turm gilt als Symbol der Stadt. Traditionell wurde er im Venezianischen „El paron de casa“ (der Herr des Hauses) genannt. Zahlreiche Türme in Venetien, Slowenien, Kroatien und bis nach Dalmatien, ursprünglich Venezianisches Herrschaftsgebiet, sind als Zitate des Markusturms errichtet und somit weithin sichtbare Zeichen der Herrschaft der Serenissima, der historischen Republik Venedig.

 

Geschichte und Gestaltung

 

Der Beginn des Turmbaus liegt zwischen 888 und 911 unter dem Dogen Pietro Tribuno. Die Bauarbeiten wurden mehrfach unterbrochen; der Turm wurde unter dem Dogen Tribuno Memmo (979–991) fertiggestellt, eine Spitze aus gebranntem Ton wurde 1152 unter dem Dogen Domenico Morosini vollendet, hauptsächlich von den Brüdern Pietro und Giovanni Basilio. Das oberste Geschoss mit den heute noch sichtbaren Klangarkaden wurde 1178 hinzugefügt und 1329 umgestaltet. Die Turmspitze wurde 1510 aufgesetzt und 1517 mit einer Statue des Erzengels Gabriel bekrönt. Die hölzerne Skulptur ist mit vergoldetem Kupferblech verkleidet.

 

Seit 1548 ist für den Karnevalsdienstag ein Brauch dokumentiert, eine akrobatische Darbietung auf einem Seil, das vom Turm herab gespannt wurde. Dieser sogenannte „volo de angelo“ (Engelsflug), ursprünglich „volo de turco“ (Türkenflug nach dem ersten, der dieses Kunststück vorführte), ist auch auf Gemälden, z. B. von Canaletto und Francesco Guardi festgehalten worden.

 

Erdbeben und Blitzeinschläge verursachten wiederholt Schäden am Turm und machten Restaurierungsarbeiten notwendig. Am 14. Juli 1902 gegen Viertel vor zehn stürzte der Turm ein, nachdem sich schon Tage vorher große Risse im Mauerwerk gebildet hatten, die darauf zurückzuführen waren, dass man die Metallanker im Turminneren entfernt hatte, um einen Aufzug einzubauen. Das Unglück rief große Bestürzung und Trauer in der ganzen Welt hervor. Der Stadtrat von Venedig beschloss bereits am Abend des Turmeinsturzes einstimmig, den Campanile wieder aufzubauen, wie und wo er gewesen war (com’era e dov’era). Der Wiener Architekt Otto Wagner meinte zwar in einem Interview mit der Zeitung Il piccolo (Triest) vom 17. Juli 1902, es hieße die Architekturgeschichte verfälschen, würde der Campanile im alten Stil wieder aufgebaut, doch stieß er überwiegend auf ablehnende Reaktionen.

 

Beim Einsturz des Turmes wurde auch die Rückseite der direkt angrenzenden Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana schwer in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Die Arbeiten zur Beseitigung der Schäden verliefen jedoch zügig, sodass die Bibliothek im Jahr 1912 wieder der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht werden konnte.

 

Der Wiederaufbau des Turms begann am 25. April 1903. Der neue Bau besteht neben traditionellem Mauerwerk teilweise aus Eisenbeton, wodurch der mit Hilfe der Ingenieurfirma von Giovanni Antonio Porcheddu geplante Turm ein bedeutend geringeres Gewicht hat. Am 25. April, dem Markustag des Jahres 1912, wurde der wiederhergestellte Turm feierlich eingeweiht. Die Pfahlgründungen erwiesen sich nach fast 1000 Jahren als noch sehr gut, waren völlig versteinert und wurden daher nur verstärkt. Dies führte allerdings zu neuen Problemen, die fast 100 Jahre später akut zu werden drohten. 2008 wurde daher begonnen, den Markusturm mit einer Titanumfassung zu sichern. Anstelle der innen umlaufenden, nach oben führenden Rampe wurde eine Treppe eingebaut. Heute ist das Glockengeschoss des Turms gegen Eintritt über einen Aufzug erreichbar.

 

Die auf quadratischem Grundriss erstellten Backsteinfronten sind mit Lisenen verziert.

 

Glocken

 

Die fünf Bronzeglocken des höchsten Turmes der Stadt sind überall in Venedig zu hören, deshalb dienten sie ursprünglich nicht nur dem Aufruf zum Gottesdienst, sondern hatten zur Zeit der Republik jeweils eine bestimmte Funktion. Die Renghiera oder Maleficio kündigte eine Hinrichtung an, die Nona erklang zu Mittag, die Mezza Terza rief die Senatoren in den Dogenpalast und die Trottiera verkündete den baldigen Beginn einer Sitzung des Großen Rates. Beim Einsturz des Turmes blieb nur die größte Glocke, die Marangona, die 1819 neu gegossen worden war, unbeschädigt. Die Marangona wurde zum Beginn und Ende eines Arbeitstages sowie zum 1. Aufruf einer Sitzung des Großen Rates geläutet. Die anderen Glocken wurden 1909 in Mailand neu gegossen: Papst Pius X. übernahm dafür die Kosten. Die Stimmung des tontiefsten und schwersten Geläutes in Venedig entspricht der A-Dur-Tonleiter. Die einzelnen Glocken hängen in einem Stahlglockenstuhl an verzierten Holzjochen verteilt im Glockengeschoss. Die zwei größten Glocken (Marangona und Nona) sind leicht gekröpft aufgehängt und die übrigen drei Glocken (Trottiera, Mezza Terza und Renghiera) sind ungekröpft aufgehängt. Die Aufhängungen der Klöppel der Glocken werden durch Stahlseile verstärkt (hierbei handelt es sich um eine Absturzsicherung der Klöppel, damit sie nach einem Bruch nicht vom Turm geschleudert werden können) und an einigen Glockenjochen ist noch ein Metallgestänge, das ehemals zum Handläuten diente, angebracht. Auch heute noch werden die fünf Glocken hauptsächlich zu liturgischen Zwecken über einen elektrischen Antrieb regelmäßig geläutet. Die Nona läutet morgens um 7:00 Uhr, mittags um 12:00 Uhr und um Mitternacht um 0:00 Uhr. Die Marangona erhebt ihre Stimme zu Begräbnissen. Werktags ertönen die Glocken Renghiera und Mezza Terza um 14:00, um 17:00 und um 18:30 Uhr läuten Renghiera, Mezza Terza und Trottiera, um 20:00 Uhr läutet die Trottiera solistisch. Dieses Abendangelusläuten variiert jahreszeitlich. Das Plenum, also das Zusammenläuten aller fünf Glocken, erklingt samstags und am Vorabend eines Festtages um 18:30 Uhr, sowie sonn- und festtags um 10:00 Uhr, 11:00 Uhr, 14:00 Uhr, 17:00 Uhr und 18:30 Uhr. Bei einem Geläute mit mehreren Glocken beginnt üblicherweise immer die kleinste Glocke und die übrigen Glocken werden dann gemäß ihrer Größe aufsteigend dazu geschaltet, sodass die jeweils tontiefere Glocke zu läuten beginnt. Beim Ausläuten kann entweder die kleinste oder die größte Glocke zuletzt erklingen.

 

Der Campanile war zugleich Leuchtturm und Landmarke der Lagunenstadt. Kaiser Friedrich III. ritt den stufenlosen spiralförmigen Aufgang 1452 zu Pferd bis zum Glockenstuhl, ebenso Napoleon und Lord Byron. Beim Blick aus der Glockenstube präsentiert sich eine faszinierende Aussicht über die Lagunenstadt und zugleich eine Kuriosität: Man sieht von dort ein Venedig ohne Kanäle.

 

Bedeutung

 

Der Markusturm hat den Entwurf einiger anderer Türme beeinflusst. Viele stehen in Städten mit maritimer Prägung:

 

Dem markanten Kieler Rathausturm in der schleswig-holsteinischen Landeshauptstadt Kiel an der Kieler Förde ist von dem Architekten Hermann Billing eine Fassadenstruktur gegeben worden, die sich an den Markusturm anlehnt.

 

Der Turm der Kathedrale St. Georg (slo. Sv. Jurij) im slowenischen Piran (venezianisch-italienisch: Pirano) an der Slowenischen Riviera wurde ebenfalls dem venezianischen Markusturm nachempfunden.

 

Der Turm der St. Euphemia-Kathedrale im kroatischen Rovinj ähnelt auch dem Markusturm in Venedig.

 

Die Venezianischen Türme am Plaça d'Espanya in Barcelona.

Der Metropolitan Life Tower in New York wurde zwischen 1908 und 1909 nach Plänen der Architekten Pierre LeBrun und Napoleon LeBrun errichtet. Mit einer Höhe von 213 Metern und 50 Stockwerken war er bis 1913 das höchste Gebäude der Welt.

 

Der Sather Tower in Berkeley (Kalifornien), in Anlehnung an sein Vorbild auch Campanile genannt. Er ist das Wahrzeichen der Universität von Kalifornien in Berkeley. Erbaut wurde der 93,6 Meter hohe Turm 1914.

 

Der Turm des Rathauses des ersten Sektors der Stadt Bukarest wurde 1920 gebaut. Als dessen Modell diente der Markusturm.

 

Der originalgetreue (98,6 m hohe) Markusturm im Venetian Resort Hotel am Las Vegas Strip (Nevada). Das Hotel wurde der italienischen Stadt Venedig nachempfunden.

 

Die Nachbildung in Las Vegas wurde als das The Venetian Macao erneut nachgebildet.

 

2015 wurde im Stadtteil Zhongshan von Dalian als Touristenattraktion eine Nachbildung von Gebäuden in Venedig entlang eines Kanals eröffnet, darunter auch der Campanile.

 

Für die New South China Mall stand der Campanile ebenfalls Modell.

 

(Wikipedia)

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