Cathedral tower of Teramo, Romanesque bell tower in Teramo, Italy.
The Cathedral Tower of Teramo is the bell tower of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, joined to the cathedral where Guido II's Romanesque section meets Niccolò degli Arcioni's Gothic work. Its lower part dates from the 12th–13th centuries, the middle from the 14th, and the octagonal crown was built in 1493 by Antonio da Lodi. It rises 48 metres, or nearly 50 with the gilded sphere, weathervane and cross.
The lower section was built between the 12th and 13th centuries under Bishop Guido II, at the junction of his Romanesque cathedral and the later Gothic work. In the 14th century Niccolò degli Arcioni added the middle section, and in 1493 the Lombard architect Antonio da Lodi crowned the tower with its octagonal prism and pyramid. Restoration followed in 1935, 2019 and 2022.
The tower's bells hang in two bell cells above the bifora windows, and the clock room below once drove them through ropes and descending weights. Until 1956 the old cathedral organ stood in the vestibule, the former sacristy, so music and bells shared the same structure.
The tower is located on Piazza Orsini in the city center and is easy to reach. The square is accessible and provides an open space to view the tower and neighboring cathedral from different angles.
The metal sphere crowning the tower, originally gilded, measures 0.64 metres across; the cross above it was gilded too, and traces of the gold remain. The 1955 survey by the Istituto Geografico Militare put the tower at 48 metres, with sphere, weather vane and cross raising it to almost 50.
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