The Tower
Located on the west side of the square, symmetrical to the Palace, the Tower was built between 1599 and 1602, designed by Giovan Battista Aleotti. It rises 44 metres high, with an elegant telescopic shape.
Approaching from the west, the Tower marks the entrance to the square, while from the east it frames the main road like a theatrical backdrop. The Tower consists of three cubes and an octagonal prism, each corresponding to a classical architectural order. The first, a massive Doric base, features an imposing arch. The second, decorated with pair Ionic lesenes, now houses the ancient clock. The third, adorned with Corinthian lesenes, contains a blind arch that was once open. The fourth level, an octagonal skylight, houses the civic bells and is crowned with a cylindrical pinnacle, a small dome and a weather vane. On the south side, a sundial was placed to regulate the mechanism of the mechanical clock. In the second half of the 18th century, the Tower’s foundations were reinforced by architect Giovanni Battista Fattori. Beneath the arch, a commemorative stone marks the water level reached during the flood of 1765.
