Campanil, Bell chamber in Ciudad Universitaria de Concepción, Chile.
Campanil is a reinforced concrete bell tower standing about 140 feet (42.5 m) tall at the heart of the Universidad de Concepción campus in Chile. It rises at the center of the grounds and can be seen from nearly every part of the campus.
The tower was started in 1941 at the initiative of Enrique Molina Garmendia, the university's rector at the time, who had drawn inspiration from the bell tower at the University of California, Berkeley. It was completed in 1943 and has shaped the skyline of Concepción ever since.
The tower is the most recognized symbol of the Universidad de Concepción and serves as a natural meeting point on campus. Students often use it as a reference when agreeing to meet somewhere on the grounds.
The tower works well as a landmark for getting around the campus, which can otherwise be hard to navigate. The interior is not open to the public, but the exterior is easy to appreciate from the open areas near the center of the grounds.
The university's sports teams go by the name Los del Campanil, a nickname taken directly from the tower. This makes it one of the few campus monuments to have given its name to a sports identity.
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