LECCO: SAN NICOLO’ BELL TOWER, Lecco: San Nicolo’ Bell Tower

The San Nicolò Bell Tower, named after the patron saint of sailors, is considered by the inhabitants of Lecco to be the city's most symbolic monument.

Do you know what the people of Lecco call it? “Il Matitone!” (“The Big Pencil”). The reason is immediately obvious once you look at its silhouette against the mountain backdrop. The base is circular in shape, then rises to an octagonal plan and finally culminates in a triangular point that makes it resemble a giant pencil.

What you are admiring is one of the tallest bell towers in Europe, a full 96-meters high, from the top of which there is a splendid view.

If you feel up to tackling a climb of almost 400 steps, in fact, you can book a guided tour of the bell tower and reach a narrow balcony, located above the bells, from which a 360° panorama of the surroundings opens up.

Another peculiarity of this structure is that it was only built after the basilica to which it is attached. You should know that while the church was built from the extension of an already existing one, with a long series of works starting as early as 1811, the bell tower was only begun in 1882, starting from the pre-existing base of a medieval tower that was part of the ancient city walls.

And its construction was not an easy one, it underwent several design changes already in the course of construction and a work stoppage, due to lack of funds, when its height had already reached 80 meters, roughly where its clock now stands.

When it was finally completed in 1903 with the affixing of the cross on top, one key detail was still missing: the bells!

The bells of the old bell tower of the original basilica were recovered and cast, and nine new bells were made, each named after a saint, just like the most imposing one, the Holy Trinity, which weighs almost three tons.

I bid you farewell with an interesting fact: in order to raise the necessary funds to finish the bell tower, the people of Lecco organized various initiatives, including charging the faithful a small fee to use the chairs during services.