Torre dell'Orologio, Brescia

The Torre dell'Orologio is a 16th-century tower located on the Piazza della Loggia, Brescia, Italy. It houses an astronomical clock.

Torre dell'Orologio, Brescia
Close-up of the clock face

The tower was constructed between 1540 and 1550 to the design of Lodovico Beretta, a Brescian architect, one of the designers of the Palazzo della Loggia. Its astronomical clock[1] was installed between 1544 and 1546,[2] probably replacing a previous mechanism.[3] It indicates the hour (in Italian 24-hour style), the lunar phase and the signs of the Zodiac.

The clock's main dial on the Piazza della Loggia and its tympanum were painted by Gian Giacomo Lamberti in 1547. A second dial at the back of the tower, overlooking the Via Beccaria, indicates only the hour. Its designer is unidentified.[2]

Above the tower is a bronze bell with two copper jacquemarts, installed in 1581,[4] in Brescian dialect known as the "Màcc de le ure” (the madmen of the hours) and locally nicknamed Tone and Batista. They are driven by the clock mechanism, and strike the hours.

Under the clock, the long portico in white stone was created in 1595 by the Brescian architect Piermaria Bagnadore. The passage underneath the tower, connecting the Piazza della Loggia and the Via Beccaria, was created in 1554[2] by Lodovico Beretta.

References
  1. Margotti, Mario (29 July 2017). "Ecco i «segreti» dell'orologio di piazza Loggia". Giornale di Brescia (in Italian). Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  2. "Comune di Brescia - La torre dell'orologio" (in Italian). Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  3. "Restauro Funzionale dell'Orologio Astrario di Piazza della Loggia (Brescia)" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. as stated in an inscription on the bell

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