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The present-day Belltower of St. Mark's was built in 1912 as an exact replica of its predecessor, which collapsed unexpectedly on the morning of July 14, 1902. Some Venetians claimed that St. Mark's Square looked better without the tower, and others thought it was foolish to spend taxpayers' money on a replacement. In the end, donations from outside Venice covered most of the expense, and a rebuilt Campanile was christened on April 25, 1912--exactly 1,000 years after the foundations of the original structure had been laid, according to historians of the time. The Campanile's five bells were intended to communicate five different messages. The largest signaled the beginning and end of each work day; another rang the hour; a third called senators to the Doge's Palace; the fourth summoned magistrates; and the smallest--il Maleficio--was rung to announce executions of the prisoners who dangled in cages halfway up the tower's walls.
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Western Europe
