campanile

[kam-puh-nee-lee, -neel; It. kahm-pah-nee-le]

campanile, Italian form of bell tower, constructed chiefly during the Middle Ages. Built in connection with a church or a town hall, it served as a belfry and watch tower and often functioned as a civic or commemorative monument. The campanile generally stands as a detached unit. At the top is the bell platform, where the main architectural emphasis, generally a group of arched openings, is concentrated. Originating in the 6th cent., the campaniles were the earliest church towers in Europe and were generally circular in shape; examples of this type remain at Ravenna. Beginning with the 8th cent., the square plan became most common, being constructed in all parts of Italy. The Lombardy section produced the richest development of the campanile. Brick is the material most used, often combined with stone for the cornices and string courses, the latter surrounding the tower at each story level in the Roman examples. The celebrated campanile of Florence, known as Giotto's campanile (1334), is entirely faced in marble and ornamented with sculptures. Also of marble is the leaning tower at Pisa.

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

campanile

Italian belltower, originally built beside or attached to a church. The earliest campaniles (7th–10th century) were plain round towers with a few small arched openings near the top; the Leaning Tower of Pisa is an elaborate version of this type. The Venetian form of campanile consisted of a tall, square, slim shaft, frequently tapered, with a belfry at the top, above which rose the spire, sometimes square as in the famous campanile of St. Mark's Basilica (10th–12th century, belfry story 1510). After falling out of favor during the Renaissance, the Venetian type was revived in the 19th century, often in connection with factories, housing, or collegiate buildings.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Campanile

A campanile – pronounced /kampaˈni:le/ – is, especially in Italy, a free-standing bell tower, often adjacent to a church or cathedral. The word derives from the Italian campanile, from campana (bell).

The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Other notable examples include St Mark's Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice. Campaniles outside of Italy are often modeled after St Mark's.

At the beginning of the nineteen eighties the theme Campanile was revised by H. R. Hiegel and Florian Mausbach.

After a spectacular design by architect H.R. Hiegel dating from the year 1983, in 1990 Helmut Jahn built the Frankfurt Messeturm.

Modern campaniles often contain carillons, a musical instrument traditionally composed of at least 23 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.

The tallest free-standing campanile in the world is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, located at the University of Birmingham, UK. although its actual height is the subject of some confusion. The university list it as tall, whereas other sources state that it is tall.

List of campaniles

This is a list of campaniles found on Wikipedia:

Australia

National Carillon, Canberra, ACT (50 m; 53 bells)
Swan Bells, Perth, Western Australia (82.5 m; 18 bells)

Canada

The Peace Tower, part of the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, is equipped with a 53-bell carillon
Ladner Clock Tower broadcasts the carillon of the University of British Columbia (40 m (131 ft); originally 330 bronze bars, now fully digital)

Germany

The 84-m high Roter Turm (Roter Turm) in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt is, with 76 bells, the world's largest carillon in a campanile.

South Africa

Port Elizabeth (Erected to commemorate the landing of the 1820 Settlers)

United Kingdom

The Clock Tower, commonly but incorrectly referred to as Big Ben, of the Palace of Westminster
The Trent Building of the University of Nottingham
The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower at the University of Birmingham
The Queen's Tower at Imperial College London
The Trafford Centre's Barton Square Tower
The Addleshaw Tower at Chester Cathedral
St Paul's Church, Wordsworth Avenue, Sheffield

United States

Alabama

Denny Chimes, the campanile/carillon at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. tall with 25 bronze bells played from 2 keyboards or roll player mechanism.

California

Sather Tower, "The Campanile" and carillon of the University of California, Berkeley, is 307 ft (93.6 m) tall and has 61 bells. It was the subject of The Campanile Movie.
Carillon Tower, "The Bell Tower" at the University of California, Riverside is 161 ft (49.1 m) tall with 48 bells and was dedicated to the University in 1966.
Storke Tower at the University of California, Santa Barbara is 175 ft (53.3 m) tall with 61 bells.
The California Tower at Balboa Park (San Diego, California) is 198 ft (60.4 m) tall and has a 100-bell symphonic carillon. It was built in 1914 for the 1915-1916 Pan-American Expo.
St. Andrew's Catholic Church, Pasadena, California, built in 1927.

Colorado

Daniels & Fisher Tower, popularly the D & F Tower in downtown Denver, was, at 330 feet (100.5 m), the third-tallest structure in the United States and the tallest west of the Mississippi River when completed in 1910.

Florida

Bok Tower, the centerpiece of Bok Tower Gardens, is located north of Lake Wales; the site was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark; the Singing Tower contains a 60-bell carillon set within a 205-feet-tall (62 m) Late Gothic Revival tower designed by architect Milton B. Medary
Century Tower, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, is 157 feet tall (47.9 m) and has a cast-bell carillon with 61 bells.
The Campanile, at Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida, has a 43 cast-bell carillon.

Georgia

Kessler Campanile at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta was built for the 1996 Olympic Games and is 80 ft (24.4 m) tall.

Indiana

Brandt Campanile, at Valparaiso University near the Chapel of the Resurrection and the Christopher Center for Library and Information Resources, is a chime standing 143 ft (43.6 m) high with 12 bells.
Shafer Tower, a campanile and carillon in the central campus of Ball State University, standing at 150 feet in height.

Iowa

The Campanile and carillon at Iowa State University (110 ft (33.5 m); 50 bells).
The Campanile at the University of Northern Iowa.

Kansas

The World War II Memorial Carillon and Campanile at the University of Kansas (120 ft (36.6 m); 53 bells)

Louisiana

Louisiana State University World War One Memorial Bell Tower (Memorial Tower)

Also known as the Campanile, this 175-ft (53.3 m) structure was built in 1923 and dedicated in 1926 as a memorial to Louisianans who died in WWI. On the rotunda walls are bronze plaques bearing the names of those to whom the tower is dedicated. (The names of the black soldiers were recently added.) Chimes ring every quarter hour. The cornerstone in front of the tower was excavated from the ruins of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy in Pineville (LSU's first incarnation), one half describes the history, while the other half is inscribed with the names of the first board of supervisors and faculty.
The plaza area in front of Memorial Tower has served as a place of both ceremony and celebration. The University’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony takes place on the plaza and attracts many visitors to the area. In addition, Student Government holds the formal installation for its new President and Vice President each spring. There are also several traditions attached to it, especially kissing in the plaza at midnight on Valentine's Day.

Massachusetts

Campanile next to City Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, a part of the Municipal Group, the city's neoclassical government center.
Campanile of Old South Church in Boston, a 246-ft (75 m) Venetian-Gothic bell tower by Charles Amos Cummings.
Campanile Pilgrim Monument, Provincetown, Massachusetts, a 252-ft (76.8 m) granite tower by Charles Amos Cummings.
The Stockbridge Congregational Church has a bell tower, also know as the Children's Chime.
The Karam Campanile at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, in the middle of campus
The Memorial Bell Tower at Phillips Academy in Andover

Michigan

Burton Tower at the University of Michigan (212 ft, 64.6 m; 55 bells)
Lurie Tower at the University of Michigan (167 ft, 50.9 m; 60 bells)
Beaumont Tower at Michigan State University (105 ft, 32 m; 49 bells)

New York

The Metropolitan Life Tower in New York City (700 ft.)

North Carolina

Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (172 ft, 52.4 m)
Memorial Bell Tower at North Carolina State University in Raleigh (115 ft, 35 m)

Oregon

Campanile at Oregon State University (68 ft, 20.7 m tall; 5 bells)

South Dakota

Coughlin Campanile at South Dakota State University(167 ft, 50.9 m). The tower's chimes cover three octaves and can be "played" manually from an organ.

Texas

Albritton Bell Tower, Texas A&M University, College Station (138 ft, 42.1 m; 49 bells).
Murchison Memorial Tower, the campanile at Trinity University, San Antonio (166 ft, 50.6 m; 4 bells).