On July 14, 1902, the Campanile or bell tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral
fell to earth with a crash. Earthquakes and a rotting foundation at
length worked its ruin. But its reconstruction was begun in 1905, and
the new tower was completed in 1911, nine years after the fall. The
Campanile stands, as is usually the case in Italy, detached from the
church. The first bell tower on this site was built in 900. The one
that fell in 1992 was probably erected in 1329.
The Campanile signified to the Venetians the greatness of Venice. It
was used as a watch tower before the year 1000. Then in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries it became a bell tower also. Its bells rang out at
the first hint of danger to warn the citizens of the republic. During
later times these bells announced the taking of Constantinople by
Dandolo to a waiting and expectant crowd; the victory of Lepanto, which
made Venice master of the East; the establishment of her fights of
sovereignty against Rome. They clanged when Martin Paliero, the traitor
Doge, was beheaded. They tolled a dirge when the peace of Campoformio
ended the Venetian republic forever. When the lagoons were united to
the Italian mainland they rang out in announcement.
When the Campanile fell the Venetians were shocked and broken-hearted.
There was some question as to whether it could be reconstructed; but
the Italians were determined that it should be. In its fall the bell
tower inclined toward the north and open piazza. If it had fallen in
any other direction, either the Library of Sansovino, or the Doge’s
Palace and St. Mark’s Cathedral, or the royal palace would have been
destroyed. In fact, some of the debris fell very near St. Mark’s; but
did not disfigure it in the least.
The old foundations of the Campanile were used as a nucleus for the
new. The shaft outside is a perfect model of the old bell tower; but by
modifying the inside the weight has been reduced 20,000 tons.
The nucleus of the first Venice, before it was made the seat of
government of the republic, is said to have been the little district
about the great bridge over the Grand Canal, which still retains the
name Rialto. But as soon as the island group of Rivo Alto became the
capital of the Venetian republic a palace for the Doge was erected near
the open mouth, on the site that its successor still occupies. This
earliest palace was probably built about the year 800. It was burned
down in 976 and again in 1106. The present magnificent building was a
slow growth over three centuries.
As a whole, the Doge’s Palace as it now stands may be regarded
externally as the characteristic typical example of fully developed
Venetian Gothic. It is built of brick, and is lined or incrusted with
small lozenge-like slabs of variously colored marble.
The interior of the Doge’s Palace is of much later date than is the
exterior. On the walls of the chief council chambers are oil paintings
by many Venetians, among them Tintoretto’s masterpiece “Bacchus and
Ariadne,” and the huge picture of Paradise, the largest oil painting in
the world.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 27, SERIAL No. 27
[Illustration: THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS, VENICE]
_VENICE_
_The Bridge of Sighs_