Thursday, April 22, 2010

Orseolo - Cap of the Campanile


Like most folks who haven't been to Venice, before I went I assumed that the famous Campanile was "about the same size" as so many of the other belltowers in the city. It's hard to get a good perspective, unless you see it in-person.
That bell tower is huge. You can see it from islands in other parts of the lagoon, and depending on the angle, you can see it from several points within the city.
Here's a shot taken from just the right point in Bacino Orseolo.
You can just see the top of the tower.
One thing I've yet to do is take a tour up to the top of the Campanile.
Maybe next time I visit, if I can break away from all the rowing.

7 comments:

Bob Easton said...

Greg,
Plan that trip up the tower for your next off season visit, unless you like standing in long lines.

Then, after you see that view, cross over to San Giorgio and go to the top of that tower.

For a better view of the lagoon, I prefer San Giorgio, and there's never a waiting line.

Tamás said...

San Giorgio Maggiore is also much cheaper (about 2 euros, instead of 8 euros).

Torcello's campanile also recommended.

Gondola Greg said...

Thanks guys.
That's great advice.
I've been thinking that with the right lens these high vantage points could make for some great photos.

Tamás said...

Is there any way to bribe someone to be able to walk to the top of the San Marco Campanile at off-time hour?

(Officially that isn't possible, but not everything is official in Italy.)

staff said...

that point has been discussed before: it's no longer possible for turists to go up walking. The view from the top of Campanile is awesome: if the air is clear enough you can see the shores of Croatia and the Dolomiti. Nereo

Tamás said...

Do you know what happened to the Loggetta, when the San Marco campanile collapsed in 1902?

Some guidebooks mention there was a small permanent exhibition of alleged religious relics in the Logetta, where visitors where shown the knife used by Jesus during the Last Supper and other venerated items.

I wonder if the city had time to evacuate the Loggetta's reliquiary when the old tower started cracking?

Tamás said...

Found a New York Times article from 1902, which has every detail about the re-built Campanile.

The blue button opens the large article, which says how many piles and bricks were used (and it appears there are no steps in the Campanile, indeed).