Torre del Candeliere, Massa Marittima, Italy

Torre del Candeliere, also known as Torre dell'orologio, is a musealized tower located in the Terziere di Città Nuova in the city of Massa Marittima, Italy. Completed in 1228 during the podesteria of Tedice Malabarba, the tower was erected to symbolize the city's expansion beyond Città Vecchia and Borgo. An inscription on the tower reads, 'OCTO BIS DECEM CURREBANT MCC, QUANDO TEDICI MALABARBE MASSE IUBENTI, PLACUIT INITIUM AULE DONARE PRESENTI, PRINCIPIUM NOVE URBIS, DECUSQUE FERENTI', suggesting its primary function as a watchtower and a symbol of the self-governing city's independence from the dominion of bishop-princes.

With a height of 28 meters, it put on a show of power and authority as the city's first significant construction project. After its completion, the Senese reduced the tower's height in 1335 following their victory in a series of protracted wars between Massa and Siena. The tower's summit was used as the proverbial cherry on top to demonstrate the Senese authority. After the tower's height reduction, the Senese connected the tower to the Massa fortifications through an arch.

The tower experienced additional changes through the centuries, including a 400 kg bell cast by Luca di Bandi da Cortona placed on the summit in 1413, and the first clock of the city installed in 1443. The clock was later replaced with a new one due to the generosity of Cosimo de' Medici (1563) and refurbished again in 1610. The bell was destroyed by lightning in 1760 and replaced with another bell weighing 140 kg, cast in Florence and adorned with an inscription seeking the blessing of the Madonna, San Cerbone, and San Bernardino.

In 1985, the tower was musealized and opened to visitors, who can now climb to the uppermost floor of the tower and traverse the arch to reach the Cassero Senese fortifications. The tower has a travertine-clad base with an hourglass-like structure halfway up the wall, serving as an orologio, and a narrow, rectangular structure resembling a sail at the summit. The ground floor houses a ticket office and a library, and a narrow stairway leads to the second floor, which displays the history of Torre del Candeliere and the Senese fortress.

From 1317 to 1319, the COMUNE DI MASSA MARITTIMA minted its own currency in the tower. The third floor showcases the complicated mechanics of the clock. An arched opening on the third floor leads to the Cassero Senese fortifications.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons