The bell tower
The bell tower is the most secluded building in town, with its imposing, massing structure. It rises on a broken ground towering over the city centre tall and haughty, just like a master that has been makes scaring people off for centuries.
The bell tower is a fine building embodying all the architectural features of Romanesque architecture.
The whole block seems to be just a continuation of the rock it stands on. It can be seen as the architectural transposition of a story from the Gospels, an example of Christian beliefs surviving through the Centuries.
We have very little information on the history of the tower: quite likely, the outer walls were built at the same time of the nearby Cathedral, in 1173.
The square building hides an inner circular tower going all the way up to the bell-chamber. It is, perhaps, an older tower, whose structure bears similarities with the parish church (9th – 11th century): it features the same recessed one-light windows and its inner structure reminds us of the specific apses we find in the parish church.
In on of the windows’ splay, we also find a small capital with its damaged support, coming from the parish church’s chancel area, the faux loggias and pluteuses’ plates.
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The sign reads:
The tower, as all the monuments of this city, was built directly on a rocky outcrop. The rock, left clearly visible by the builders, immediately conveys the look, the idea of strength and solidity. In its grounds it is certainly contemporary to the cathedral of 1173. It has a square perimeter (m. 8.30) and incorporates inside a circular building developed for a height of about 28 meters.
It's probably, of older tower in some ways akin to the Parish of the Assumption (IX-XI); there's found, in fact, the same type of masonry with the insert Roman brick between the segments & limestone, as well as some single lancet have a plant and splay similar to those of the apses of the same Pieve. The tower has always assumed a double function military defensive and religious, representing the nearest shelter for the bishop and the canons of the Cathedral until the XV. Only from 800 the property becomes final communal and that is why today is also known as the Civic Tower The passing of time as we know it today was very different in the Middle Ages althouh already marked by the invention of the sundial which took place in the V century. In the early history of the m asurement requirements are mainly related to natural elements like water, sun or hourglasses and clocks gear, operated by weights, they're used only in the XIII century.
Needs liturgical and monastic required precision, the canonical hours were divided as follows: morning, first, third, sixth, ninth, vespers and compline. Today it is unthinkable to imagine our days marked only by the rhythm of the bells but their presence, where still stand these "bastions of time", is always strong and rich sense of aggregation for the community that surrounds it and live with them.