Technology of the Torre delle Ore clock tower in Lucca and how the bells ring…
The Torre delle Ore is a clock tower in Lucca. It is also the tallest tower in Lucca. There are 207 stairs to the top. The tower was built in the middle ages. Labruccio di Gilio Cerlotti, a local craftsman, installed the original clock in 1392. In 1745, the Genevan clockmaker Louis Simon installed a more modern mechanism and three bells were added. The hand-wound Swiss clock rings 4 times an hour and has since 1745. I must say though that when I was in Lucca this past summer, the time was always off when the bells rang. At first, I thought there was something wrong with my watch when I heard the bells ring until another person mentioned how the bells always rang at strange times.
Those of you who know me, know that I love to climb towers. I even climbed this tower with an injured foot. The Torre delle Ore was not one of my favorite climbs. The steps were old and a few freaked me out a little as they creaked and looked like they could snap. I was glad some little kid was not up there jumping on all of the steps while I was there. At one point during the climb up, pigeons flew out of little crevices and I screamed (imagine a mellow version of The Birds). There were also lots of pigeon droppings and feathers everywhere. The views at the top however were spectacular!
If you would like to see more photos of this climb, here’s a link. My tower climb is about half way down in the post.
Just as I was about to take a photo of the view, the bells started ringing. I jumped and then set my camera to video to record the bells ringing. Because the bells did not ring right at each quarter hour, I was not prepared to capture the entire bell ringing procedure but did manage to get most of it on video.
Here’s a photo of the Torre delle Ore clock tower:
shave ice & gelato 
Wow what a wonderful choice of technology! I love church bells too..
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Wow, I love your entry. Thanks for sharing, now I have the idea on how it works.
My technology share http://www.obstaclesandglories.com/2009/01/our-inspiron-lappy.html
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WHAT a spectacular post! I really enjoyed learning about your bell technology! :D
My Photo Hunt is up! Have a great weekend.
Mrs. Mecomber
http://newyorktraveler.net/
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This was a fantastic post. Beautiful bell tower and so cool to hear the bells ring on the video. Very well written and informative.
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Very cool.
You must come to Sevilla and climb the Giralda Tower sometime.
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Very cool. I love the gears but I must say that photo looking down does raise a bit of my hairs.
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Love those bells. After reading Marta’s entry on wind turbines, these two ‘technologies’ seem so disparate, yet so intriguing. A creative take on this theme…m
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Wow! Who made this is a genius. I like to hear a church bell just makes my day.
Mine is here PhotoHunt~ATM
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It is so cool to see all the different takes on this theme. What a great post. I really enjoyed learning about the bells.
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That is a lot of steps to climb but worth it for those great pictures!
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Great shots! Believe it or not but this is the only tower in Lucca we HAVEN’T climbed! How could we have missed that?
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Great choice for the theme! I love reading about your adventures in tower climbing. Love hearing the bells ringing. Ahhh, a little piece of Italy on a cold and cloudy day.
Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and a great holiday weekend! ;)
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Thanks everyone. This was a fun week, seeing what everyone came up with. At first, I was stumped with the theme of technology. I always try to tie in either Italy or Hawaii with my PhotoHunt posts. Once I thought about the bells and clock tower, I was inspired.
Marta, I had to go back to check for sure as it surely could be interpreted either way, but the photo I believe you are referring to is looking up, not down.
Jerry, I missed it too the first time I was there.
Maria, I only wish I thought to take a little bit more video at the time of the view after the bells stopped ringing.
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oh wow..that sure looks complicated and impressive. would be nice to see it actually working. Happy PH!
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Fantastic!!! I love climbing towers too, and I love church bells! I have a great video of the bells of one of the churches in Assisi (not the basilica) pealing and swinging wildly.
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