Description of the attraction
The clock tower was built by the architect Mauro Koducci in 1496-1499, the side extensions were made in 1500-1506 according to the design of Pietro Lombardi, and the superstructures were made around 1755 by Giorgio Massari.
The tower is crowned with a flat roof, on which an architectural group is installed: two bronze figures, the so-called "Moors" because of the darkened bronze, hitting the bell with hammers for four and a half centuries, beat the clock every hour. The Moors were cast in bronze by Amoroggio della Ankore in 1497.
Under the crowning element of the tower is the coat of arms of Venice - a winged lion. Under the coat of arms there is a semicircular ledge with a niche and two side doors. In the niche is the Madonna and Child made of gilded copper. On the day of the celebration of the Ascension and throughout the entire solemn week, the side doors, at each stroke of the clock, open and out of them, following the angel, come out the Magi, who, passing in front of the Virgin Mary, bow to her.
Under the ledge in the 15th century, a clock with a complex mechanism was installed, the work of Gianpaolo and Giancarlo Ranieri - father and son from Padua. The clock indicates the change of seasons, the passage of the sun in the signs of the zodiac, the time and phases of the moon.
