The Campanile Bell Tower of Santo Stefano in Venice

St. Stefano Bell Tower Santo Stefano Bell Tower is 61 metres high.

The Campanile of Santo Stefano, with its 61 metres, is one of the tallest bell towers in Venice.

Its origin is said to go back to the twelfth century.

But its present appearance dates back to the 15th century, following a fire that destroyed its upper cell on 7 August 1585.

The fire was critical that the bells of the Campanile did not resist and melted due to the heat released.

The Campanile Santo Stefano has an English accent!

St. Stefano Bell Tower In exchange for the molten bronze, the monks of St. Augustine obtained from the Serenissima four new bells that were then stored in the Arsenal of Venice.

These bells came from England, where Queen Elizabeth had brought down Catholic churches and bell towers!

Venetian lawyers love punctuality!

It remained to replace the clock, which was also destroyed in the fire.

The new clock, made in Serravalle, was mainly paid for by lawyers in Venice.

St. Stefano Bell Tower Indeed, many of them practised their profession in that part of the city where the court was located.

However, not having the time any more (having your clock was extremely expensive at that time) negatively affected the organization of their judicial work.

Therefore, they contributed to financing the clock replacement on Santo Stefano's Campanile. This clock was replaced again in 1881.

The upper part of the Campanile was not rebuilt the same way as the original Campanile, which had a spire.

But it remains relatively imposing with its 61 metres high.

The Leaning Tower in Venice

But this Campanile's main characteristics are competing with the Tower of Pisa.

Indeed, it's so bent that one might fear it will fall and crash on the houses opposite bank one day.

St. Stefano Bell Tower During the fire of 1585, houses on the other side of the Bank of Rio Malatin had been severely damaged.

We hope that doesn't happen again.

Fortunately, they carried out serious work to support the Campanile of San Stefano base on the side of the Rio Malatin, constructions that you can see by crossing the Campiello de la Chiesa, located just to the right of the church of San Maurizio.

It's worth a look.

You can't go up there, and you have guessed it!

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