Maria-in-Cosmedin, ascribed to the 8th or 9th century. The earliest on record was one connected with St Peter's, to the atrium of which, in the middle of the 8th century, a bell-tower overlaid with gold was added. Above this they are divided into storeys by brick cornices carried on stone corbels, generally taken from ancient buildings, the lower storeys with blind arcades and the upper storeys with open arcades. These towers are square and in several storeys, the lower part quite plain till well above the church to which they are attached. The next in order are those in Rome, of which there are a very large number in existence, dating from the 8th to the 11th century. They are circular, of considerable height, and probably were erected as watch towers or depositories for the treasures of the church. Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna, dating from the 6th century. The earliest examples are those of the two churches of S. As a rule the openings increase in number and dimensions as they rise, those at the top therefore giving a lightness to the structure, while the lower portions, with narrow slits only, impart solidity to the whole composition. Later, the square tower was crowned with an octagonal turret, sometimes with a conical roof, as in Cremona and Modena cathedrals. The design differs entirely from the northern type it never has buttresses, is very tall and thin in proportion to its height, and as a rule rises abruptly from the ground without base or plinth mouldings undiminished to the summit it is usually divided by string-courses into storeys of nearly equal height, and in north and central Italy the wall surface is decorated with pilaster strips and arcaded corbel strings. Antonio, Padua and some of the churches in south Italy and Sicily. Ambrogio, Milan the cathedral of Novara S.

As a rule also there is never more than one campanile to a church, with a few exceptions, as in S. It is almost always detached from the church, or at most connected with it by an arcaded passage.

The campanile of Italy serves the same purpose as the tower or steeple of the churches in the north and west of Europe, but differs from it in design and position with regard to the body of the church. It is to the Lombard architects of the north of Italy that we are indebted for the introduction and development of the campanile, which, when used in connexion with a sacred building, is a feature peculiar to Christian architecture - Christians alone making use of the bell to gather the multitude to public worship. Bells are supposed to have been first used for announcing the sacred offices by Pope Sabinian (604), the immediate successor to St Gregory and their use by the municipalities came with the rights granted by kings and emperors to the citizens to enclose their towns with fortifications, and assemble at the sound of a great bell. CAMPANILE, the bell tower attached to the churches and town-halls in Italy (from campana, a bell).

Bell tower in italy