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Mestre Civic Tower

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The most outstanding monument in Mestre - a largely modern city, offspring of the building boom - is its civic tower. This is a bell and clock tower clearly and squarely marking the north entrance to the main piazza and the old town centre. The solid 24-metre tall brick-coloured battlemented tower is a reminder of the historic roots of this mainland city and is evidence of the old walled city. Now having been restored, it takes on a new life and meaning for the citizens and the cultural life centred round it. The castle and the walls have both disappeared as have the other ten towers that used to guard the city perimeter. This is the sole survivor and therefore it's simply known as The Tower. The restoration works were certainly controversial but they revealed quite a lot. For example, that the Tower was an open passageway in through the city walls: so a tower entranceway to control the daily whirl of traffic as citizens continually plied to or for, from town to country. Originally it was a military bulwark, yet also had a civil purpose - it was a gateway joining the Piazza and Via Palazzo, so constituted a 'relational space' in the urban plan. And it is mainly this role that comes into play today - revived again through architect Guido Zordan's project, commissioned by the City Council and under the direct control of the State Monuments Department. The Tower is no longer 'out of its element' or just a 'ruin' and is certainly not a 'military emplacement'. It's a new and vital element saved from the past to enrich the future. The Tower entrance now open to the public is like a little covered square where citizens can read a piece of their history in the stones. The monument had fallen on hard times, becoming in succession a barracks, a municipal warehouse and a tavern. Moreover, about forty years ago, a building with shops had been added, though in the restoration project this is set to be demolished. Once freed on the Via Palazzo (and Municipality) side, the Tower will become 'its own museum' in the
sense that its walls are documents enough. And so, like a book, the centuries-old monument will reveal itself and its history, the history of the city, to visitors.
An external wood and steel stairway, modelled on medieval examples but designed as a footway, continues in
the interior up to the top level and the clock. Here a computerized plant will 'speak' about that distant past which this up-to-date city was founded on.

Info
Servizio Teatro e Spettacolo
Ufficio Promozione e Comunicazione
tel. 0412749062
fax 0412749049

Opening times: 10am-12.30am, 4pm-7.30pm. Closed on Mondays and Holidays.
Free admission

In this itinerary

Forti e fortificazioni
Mestre Civic Tower