Torre dell'orologio

This is one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in Venice. The central part was designed in 1496 by Mauro Codussi and houses the clock (whose face shows the phases of the moon and sun as well as the signs of the zodiac). Also adorned with a Lion of St. Mark and a niche for a statue of the Madonna, this part of the structure is surmounted by the famous Two Moors Bell. The side wings were added in 1506, and then raised higher in 1755 (to designs by the architect Giorgio Massari).