Campanone, Bell tower in Città Alta, Bergamo, Italy.
The Campanone is a square stone bell tower on the south-west corner of Piazza Vecchia, beside the Palazzo della Ragione and the Palazzo del Podestà. It rises 56 metres, the tallest tower in Bergamo, built of rough light-brown and grey masonry. Near the top an arched opening holds the bells; below it a round clock with a pale weathered face sits in a shallow arched recess.
The tower was built between the 11th and 12th centuries as the house-tower of the Suardi, a powerful Ghibelline family. In the 14th century it became the great hospice where Bergamo's rectors lived, and it also held the city prisons. Later acquired by the municipality, it was fitted with bells; a clock was mounted in 1407, and the final height dates from the 1860 roof rebuilding.
The great bell, blessed in 1656 and nicknamed Campanone by residents, still strikes 100 times at 10 pm, recalling the curfew and the closing of the city's four gates. It also rings when the municipal council meets, during the Corpus Domini procession, and on 25 August, the eve of the feast of Sant'Alessandro, when the city's bell towers perform together.
Visitors can access the tower through guided tours using an elevator installed in the 1960s, with tickets available for combined visits to multiple heritage sites.
The main bell, cast in 1656 by the Veronese founder Bartolomeo Pisenti, bears a Latin elegiac couplet listing its functions: it sings of glad events, marks the hours, mourns funerals, drives off storms and summons the people. Its diameter is 2.07 metres and it weighs about 5,580 kg.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,671 contributors worldwide.
