Though it is structurally safe, the campanile does lean. From certain angles it looks as if it is falling. It was built between 1587-1592 to a design by Bernardo Ongarin. Builders took whatever time they needed to build then. There was not the pressure of compound interest on loans and clients did not pressure for time. Neither was there the technology which could speed up a construction job like there is today.
Bernardo Ongarin
b. ? - d. 1589
The work of designing and building churches was a collective affair, and almost every church had a campanile, or bell tower. Many of these are so notable that their designers and builders are credited individually. Ongarin designed two bell towers in Venice; that of the (now leaning) campanile of San Giorgio dei Greci (built 1587-1592), and the one at San Francesco della Vigna. The second is one of the highest in Venice; it was altered in 1758.
|
1) San Giorgio Dei Greci - Greek Trading Community [75]
