Campanile is one of the main dominants of Venice, the tallest structure in the city. Its height is 98.6 meters. Apart from its primary function, as a bell tower of the St. Mark`s Cathedral, the Campanile also performed not the least important function of a lighthouse for the ships approaching the Venetian Lagoon.
Now the Campanile has a more interesting function as a viewing platform for tourists, from where you can have a magnificent view of the whole Venice. To climb the Campanile you have to stand in queue, which is at least as large as the one to the St. Mark`s Cathedral. You can ascend in the lift to the very top of the tower where the bells are located. The Campanile has 5 bells including the main and the Venice`s biggest one called the Marangona.
The Campanile of St. Mark`s Cathedral was erected in 1514 and since that time many families of Venice thought it as an honor to maintain it for their own money, but in 1902 the tower collapsed. Almost at once there was taken a decision to restore the Campanile but it took long ten years to implement the decision.
