The 15th-century bell tower of the Church of San Daniele is a slender structure in Romanesque-Gothic style, characterized by a square plan and stonework. It is distinguished by its bell chamber with single-lancet windows with rounded arches and a conical spire. Originally, the bell tower was to be crowned with a spire much taller than the current one, similar to that of the Castle Church of Udine. However, the powerful earthquakes of the 16th century convinced the builders to reduce its height and give it its current form, characterized by a very flat roof on four slopes that allowed it to withstand subsequent seismic events unscathed.
With a solemn papal bull dated July 6, 1751, Pope Benedict XIV suppressed and extinguished the patriarchate and declared that San Daniele should pass to the Republic of Venice. On June 29, 1762, the Venetian Lieutenant of Udine ordered the removal from public places of all Patriarchal coats of arms still visible on the plaques fixed to the walls of the bell tower.
The Bells of the Bell Tower: A Story of Loss and Rebirth
In 1918, a decree established that bells cast before 1600, recognized as having historical value by a special commission, should be preserved from wartime requisition. In San Daniele, the archpriest attempted to save the cathedral bells, dating back to 1549 and 1566, but despite his efforts, both were lost.
Today, the bell tower houses a concert of bells with a typical Friulian peal, tuned in B major. The small bell was recast in 1990 by the De Poli foundry of Vittorio Veneto, while the medium and large bells date back to 1920 and were made by Francesco Broili. The ensemble is completed by a small B bell, cast in Venice in 1770, a precious testimony to the city’s past.
The siren of San Daniele del Friuli is a distinctive feature of the city, ringing daily at noon. Its origins date back to the First World War, when it was used as an alarm system to warn the population of possible air raids or emergency situations. In more recent times, it was used to summon the volunteer firefighters in emergencies with a triple blast. Today, if the volunteer firefighters are on duty, a white light at the top of the bell tower is turned on. In modern times, the siren sounds every day at 12:00 to signal the arrival of noon, a sound typically found in San Daniele del Friuli that was also used, for over thirty years, to mark the start of the then-celebrated prosciutto festival.