Torre dell'Orologio Historical Timeline

Origins

Jacopo Dondi built the first clock here in 1344 for the Carraresi lords, at a moment when a public mechanical clock was a statement of civic sophistication rather than a convenience.

Turning points

That clock was destroyed during the upheavals that ended Carraresi rule. Giovanni and Bartolomeo Delle Caldiere rebuilt it in 1428 under Venetian government, reproducing the astronomical scheme, and that mechanism is substantially what still turns.

Influential people

The Dondi family became so identified with the work that they took the name Dondi dall'Orologio. Jacopo's son Giovanni went on to build the Astrarium, a planetary clock of a complexity that had no equal in Europe for generations.

Cultural evolution

In 1532 Giovanni Maria Falconetto cut a Renaissance triumphal arch through the base of the tower, turning what had been a defensive gateway into a ceremonial one and joining the tower to the Palazzo del Capitanio.

Present-day significance

The clock still runs, still on its medieval scheme, and the missing Libra still generates the same argument it has for centuries.