A bell tower is a tower containing one or more bells, typically found on a church.
The bell is rung to signify the time, or for special events such as weddings and funerals. Bell towers are now rarely constructed and existing towers are kept primarily for their historic value.
Bell towers may also contain carillons, a musical instrument traditionally comprised of large bells which are sounded by cables, chains, or cords connected to a keyboard. These can be found at some college and university campuses. In modern construction, rather than using heavy bells the sound may be produced by the striking of small metal rods whose vibrations are amplified electronically and sounded through loudspeakers.
A free standing bell tower may be referred to by its Italian name, campanile.
The belltower of Santa Maria del Fiore, one of the most beautiful in Italy, was an (extremely costly) invention of genius by Giotto which was created more as a decorative monument than a functional one.
The artist worked from 1334 to 1337, the year of his death, on the addition of the new architectural element that was to enrich the square, but only lived to see the first floor of his project completed, where the pointed entrance stands.
According to tradition, when Emperor Charles V of Hapsburg saw the belltower, he said that it was such a precious work of art that it ought to be preserved under glass.
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