Torre dell’Orologio

Torre dell’Orologio is a beautiful clock tower in Brescia, located in Piazza della Loggia, opposite Palazzo della Loggia.

SHORT HISTORY

The Clock Tower was built between 1540 and 1550 on a design by Lodovico Beretta, a local architect who also contributed to the construction of Palazzo della Loggia.

The tower houses a complex mechanical clock, installed between 1544 and 1546 by Paolo Gennari from Rezzato, probably replacing a previous mechanism. The clock, on two different dials, marks the hours, the moon phases and the zodiac signs.

ARCHITECTURE

The side of the tower facing Piazza della Loggia has an astronomical quadrant and a tympanum painted by Gian Giacomo Lamberti in 1547, while the second side, which overlooks Via Beccaria, has a gilded quadrant of an unknown author.

On the upper part of the tower, there are two rods and a bronze bell, and two copper automata installed in 1581, depicting two men with a hammer, known in the Brescian dialect as the Màcc de le ure (Crazy of the hours).

In 1595, a long portico in white Botticino marble was built by the architect Piero Maria Bagnadore at the base of the tower. Passing under the tower through a passage created in 1554 by Lodovico Beretta, the portico extends throughout Via X Giornate, up to Corso Giuseppe Zanardelli.

HOW TO GET THERE

Torre dell’Orologio is located about 1.1 kilometer from the Brescia railway station. The closest Metro station is Vittoria, located about 290 meters away. The closest bus stop is located in Via Verdi, near the Vittoria Metro station, on the bus Line 9.