Description of the attraction
Torre Bissara, also known as Torre di Piazza, is a city tower in Vicenza facing Piazza dei Signori and the famous Palladian Basilica. Rising 82 meters from the ground, it is one of the tallest buildings in the city.
The first mention of Torre Bissara dates back to 1174, when the tower was built at the initiative of the Bissari family next to their palace. Between 1211 and 1229, the Vicenza commune bought both the palace, intending to turn it into a podestà residence, and the tower. Miraculously surviving during the terrible earthquake of 1347, Torre Bissara was built up to the current 82 meters in the middle of the 15th century. The remains of some saints and five bells were placed inside it. Then, over several centuries, the tower was repeatedly reconstructed in order to preserve stability and appearance.
On March 18, 1945, Torre Bissara, along with the Palladian Basilica, was bombed by Anglo-American troops. The top of the tower caught fire and the dome collapsed to the ground. In such a stripped-down form, the next day the inhabitants of Vicenza saw her. In addition, the bells broke off and fell on the pavement square.
Immediately after the end of the Second World War, the restoration of the Torre Bissara and the Basilica of Palladian began, which caused a real controversy in society, since as a result of the reconstruction, the shape of the tower began to differ somewhat from the original. Not all of the bells were returned to their place, as was the sphere that marked the phases of the moon and was located under the dial.
In 2002, a radical restoration project of Torre Bissara was approved, which was implemented in two passes. The first was aimed at strengthening the entire structure (a problem typical for Vicenza with its underground waters), and the second was aimed at restoring the surface of the structure and its decorations. The dial was painted in blue, as was probably the case on the original tower, a sphere with moon phases and bells was returned to its original place.
A feature of Torre Bissara is that in addition to the usual sounding of bells every half hour and every hour, she also plays a melody seven minutes before noon and seven minutes before 18 hours.
