The Campanile Bell Tower of San Giorgio dei Greci in Venice

Bell Tower Campanile of San Giorgio dei Greci in Venice

Greci Bell Tower The Bell Tower of San Giorgio dei Greci is dedicated to the Orthodox Church of the Greek community in Venice.

The construction of the church itself had been started in 1530 and completed in 1561.

The bell tower was built between 1587 and 1592 by Bernardino Ongarin, the same architect who built the bell tower of San Francesco della Vigna.

The dome was added in 1617 by Francesco Contin, who Mr Zanotto would help.

The Church of the Greeks is separated from its bell tower by a small courtyard full of charm.

The inclination of the Bell Tower dei Greci is due to a collapse of its foundations, subsidence that occurred during the construction phase, well before the bell chamber was built.

So, the Venetian Greeks knew long before its completion that their bell tower would be leaning!

However, this majestic bell tower, one of the most beautiful in Venice, defies the laws of gravity for more than four centuries.

Greci Bell Tower We can even see it as a form of nod to our modern constructions, often significantly less stable and yet built-in significantly easier environments.

Is it the presence of the Rio dei Greci that passes at his feet, or because the piles into the lagoon that carry it have been insufficient from the beginning, that explains its inclination?

No one knows; however, the Campile is the delight of tourists of all nationalities who are photographed in front of it from the nearby Greci Bridge or the other bridges that cross the Rio.

They have fun by leaning parallel to the bell tower or tense arms towards it to hold it back and prevent it from tilting further.

Greci Bell Tower Long before them, Pietro Crovato, born in 1767, suggested straightening it up by presenting a memorandum of work.

He asked for the sums necessary to carry out this undertaking.

But whatever the seriousness or not of this project, as you can still easily see today, it was never carried out.

Indeed, poor Pietro Crovato died in June 1816, before work could begin.

The extensive use of Istrian marble and stone can also explain its magnificent longevity despite its steep inclination.

Greci Bell Tower Thanks to its noble materials, it presents itself as a magnificent all-white spire, very slender and thin, very airy.

Its height is not negligible either since it peaks at 44 metres, which is still less than his colleague Giorgio Maggiore with its 63 metres on the other side of St. Mark's basin, which has already collapsed twice!

The four sides of the windows of his cell have carved heads:

Two heads of bearded men on the face of the Ponte dei Greci; two beardless faces and open mouths on the side of the Rio, finally two “classic” lions on the side of Calle dei Greci; two heads of more grimacing lions on the side of the Querini Corte, Querini's yard, in the direction of the bridge of the Pieta.

Greci Bell Tower If you are walking in the Castello District, know that you can admire this magnificent bell tower just a 5-minute walk from Saint Mark.

But, for safety reasons, it can't be visited.

Believe us; the detour is worth it because the whole area is lovely and romantic with the very pretty Fondamenta of Osmarin, the Osmarin bank just on the other side of the Ponte dei Greci, the Greek's bridge.

At the same time, you can visit a remarkable museum of icons.

Just at the foot of the Greci Bridge, on its right, go through a small iron gate and see the entrance to the Museum, where you can admire antic icons brought back by the Greeks refugees in Venice after the capture of Constantinople in 1453.