Torre dell'Orologio

At the entrance to the Merceria, St Mark’s Clock Tower combines a Renaissance façade with a remarkable clock mechanism. Its twenty-four-hour dial, gilded details and bronze figures make the tower one of the most distinctive features of Piazza San Marco.

Why it matters

The Venetian Senate commissioned a new clock in 1493 after the earlier one had failed. The clock was unveiled above the Merceria on 1 February 1499, a date recorded by the diarist Marin Sanudo. Its prominent position joined civic timekeeping with the ceremonial architecture of the square. The tower’s machinery and figures have been altered and repaired over the centuries, but the monument still expresses the city’s Renaissance ambition to make public time visible.

What to notice

The two bronze figures on the terrace, known as the Moors for the dark patina of the metal, were cast in 1497 by Ambrogio della Ancore. Each is hinged at the waist to lean into the bell strike. The bell, cast in the same year by a founder named Simeone, is topped by a gilded sphere and cross. The dial below shows the hours around a sun hand. Inside, the clock’s cruciform frame carries four trains, each with a 100-kilogram weight; a fan brake regulates their movement. The twelve-hour train produces 132 strokes at midday and midnight.

Context and history

The Senate selected the site in 1495, and foundation work began the following year. The tower’s design is attributed to Mauro Codussi on stylistic grounds, though no surviving document names him. Side wings with balustraded terraces followed decisions made in 1500 and 1503. The 1512 fire led to rebuilding of the Procuratie Vecchie and changed the setting around the tower. In 1753–1757, Bartolomeo Ferracina reworked the original clock mechanism. Later alterations included metal spiral staircases and the raising of the Moors and bell by about a metre. Wooden figures of the Three Kings and the Angel, now kept within the tower, once emerged through its doors in processions on Epiphany and Ascension.