St. Mark’s Campanile
is the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, located in the
Piazza San Marcos. The exact date of its original construction is unknown but
authorities agree that it was most likely during the 9th century during
the rule of Doge Tribuno Memmo. It was completed sometime between 1148-1157
during the reign of Domenico Morosini. The tower stood approximately 99 meters
tall.
St. Mark’s Campanile has a very long history of accidents.
The towers first run in with mother nature occurred on June 7th, 1388 when it
was struck by lightning. Then on October 24th, 1403 the upper portion of the
tower was burned after fires lit for a celebration got out of hand. After its
reconstruction, St. Mark’s campanile suffered damage from an earthquake in
1511. In the next 500 years, the tower would be struck by lightning and
partially burned a total of seven more times. The most damaging of these
lightning strikes occurred in 1745 and resulted in three deaths and a large crack
running from near the top of the tower down to the 5th window. Finally in
1776, a conductor was installed on the tower rendering it safe from further
damage due to lightning strikes.
After suffering substantial periods of damage and
restoration throughout the course of its life, St. Mark’s Campanile collapsed
to the ground on July 14th, 1902. According to eye witnesses, the first sign of
danger appeared early in the morning on the 14th when a large crack formed
near the northeast top corner of the Loggia Sansovino (the structure at the
bottom of the tower) and rose diagonally across the main corner buttress of the
tower. “Just before the collapse, the sound of falling stones within the bell
chamber warned the people in or near the tower to flee, so that no life was
lost by the accident.”
The exact cause of the collapse is unknown, but there are a
multitude of probable factors that led to its collapse. First and foremost, the
tower’s original foundation “was built on a platform of two layers of oak
beams, crossed, which platform itself rests on a bed of clay, into which piles
of white poplar were driven.” This
foundation was only intended to support the weight of the lower, more solid
portion of the tower and was therefore not adequate to support extra weight
when the tower was expanded upwards. Experts also believe that the foundation
could have been negatively affected by the dredging of the Grand Canal and even
more so by the frequent flooding of St. Mark’s square. Other causes for the
towers collapse are attributed to its extreme old age and long history of
damage from lightning strikes, fires, and earthquakes as mentioned above. All
of these disasters took a major toll on the structural integrity of the
foundation, internal structure, and exterior masonry of the tower. St. Mark’s
Campanile is also believed to have been repeatedly weakened by its constant
restorations and renovations throughout its long history. Different materials
and methods of construction were used in each successive attempt to mend the
tower.
After the tower collapsed, the Venetians immediately began
discussing whether or not St. Mark’s Campanile should be rebuilt and if so, if
it should be rebuilt as an exact replica of the previous version or a
completely new design. The matter was extremely controversial with many
citizens feeling strongly for both sides of the argument. In the end, it was
decided that St. Mark’s Campanile would be rebuilt as an exact replica to the
original because of its historic sentiment for the city of Venice. The new
tower would differ only in terms of its structural support. The new design
would replace the foundation beams with cement and iron, and the frame would
consist of a large iron framework with iron clamps fastened into the masonry.
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