Bell Towers
A bell tower (also belfry) is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. Modern bell towers often contain carillons.
The Italian term Campanile (/ˌkæmpəˈniːliː/; ), deriving from the word 'campana' meaning bell, is synonymous with 'bell tower'; in American English it tends to be used to refer to free standing bell towers.
When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in continental Europe, it is often named "belfry". Elsewhere, the term "belfry" refers strictly to the part of the tower which contains the bells. Thus some bell towers have no belfry.
Old bell towers may be kept for their historic or iconic value, though in countries with a strong campanological tradition they often continue to serve their original purposes as well.
Bell towers are common in China and countries of the related cultures, where they may appear both as part of a temple complex and as an independent civic building. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, approximately 110m, is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, located at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Read more about Bell Towers: Purpose, History, Etymology: belfry, Distribution
Famous quotes containing the words bell and/or towers:
“By day thy warning ringing bell to sound its notes,
By night thy silent signal lamps to swing.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)