Torre dell’Orologio

You need to go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece, explains Atlas Obscura. “The clock displays the time, the phase of the moon, and the dominant sign of the Zodiac. Venetian legend holds that when the clock was revealed on February 1, 1499, it was so beautiful that the doge had the clockmaker blinded so that he could not create another to rival it.”

You should start any tour of the tower from the Museo Correr, located at the opposite end of the Piazza San Marco, advises Jessica Andrews at Italo Americano. “Torre dell’Orologio seems a bit overlooked … it’s relatively short, fun and easy … with a small group of tourists and a personable guide who lets you in on some interesting facts and stories about the famous clock tower.”  The clock was completed in 1499, at which point the designer of the clock became the “timekeeper” and took up residence inside the clock tower. For 500 years, the timekeeper had to pull hanging weights at various intervals to reset the clock.  In 1999 the clock was reworked to be automatic. Here’s a video that explains it all.