Caorle: the cathedral and bell tower

Leave the Museum through the small door onto the square to admire the bell tower, the typical symbol of Caorle.
It is about forty-eight metres high, almost the same as the one at Pomposa, with a diameter of about 6.50 metres, and stands towards the southern side of the cathedral façade, about 5.40 metres away from it.
It is built entirely of brick, except for the base of large stone blocks, which is irregular because a section of about 5 metres of its circumference is missing.
What is new is its cylindrical shape right up to the level of the spire. In this respect it is the easternmost of the round bell towers, of ancient Ravenna origin, found along the Adriatic coast. In fact, slightly older than ours is the one at Tessera (Mestre) on the lagoon shore of Venice, not to mention some Venetian ones documented in the past and now lost (S. Secondo, the Angelo Raffaele, partly S. Paterniano).
Since on the lower side facing the sea the masonry consists of a mix of irregular pebbles and blocks of white stone, possibly as a defence against exceptional tides, it has been argued that the present bell tower was built on an earlier ruined structure, as if an early medieval watchtower over the sea had stood there before.
At present we have no evidence to prove or disprove these suppositions. The cylindrical tower is divided into four sections, or drums.
The lowest, on the north side, has a blind arch, perhaps needed structurally to support the upper part. On its upper edge each drum has a dentil band, which at the end of the third changes into a row of saw teeth or wolf’s teeth, and in the fourth into a drop motif.
The special feature of the bell tower is the harmonious arrangement of the openings in each drum, revealing the aesthetic sensibility of the lagoon and the local area. They start with single-light windows at the bottom and develop in the other drums according to a plan laid down by the unknown architect. In fact, from the bottom up, in the second drum double and single-light windows alternate, matching, from the top down, the fourth and third, where double and single-light windows again follow each other.
The functional and decorative motif culminates in the loggia at the centre of the shaft, with its most elegant series of twenty-four single-light windows, alternating between blind arches, for structural reasons, and open arches, for reasons of colour. In practice this double structure creates a play of light in the contrast between solid and void, in harmony with the similar solution of the columns and pillars of the cathedral’s nave. Each window has the typical crutch capital, supported by a slender column of Karst marble, slightly tapered and polygonal in section. The same motif appears in the double-light windows.
The twenty-four windows also have a symbolic meaning, corresponding to the twenty-four hours of the day. In the double-light windows of the bell chamber, the fourth drum, you can see the arch with a moulded surround which, as is well known, is a motif of the nearby cathedral. Above the shaft rises the spire, of smaller diameter.
It is not known whether it is contemporary with the shaft or at least two centuries later. It rests on a circular drum and tapers upwards, made of terracotta tiles laid with a very fine, almost imperceptible overhang, so that it looks like a woven oriental mat.
The first two bands from the bottom are marked by a dentil cornice interwoven with small knots. The spire ends at the top in a cosmic cross, that is with four arms, of a type found especially in Venice in St Mark’s Basilica. The bell tower is also evocative because of its bells. In the 17th century there were four, for a harmonious peal. They were also used to signal to fishermen during storms at sea or on foggy days.
Now there are three, with soft tones veiled by a touch of nostalgia.