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A tower containing one or more bells, typically part of a church, is a 'bell tower'; attached to a city hall or other civil building, it is usually named 'belfry'; the occasional free standing one may be referred to by its Italian name, 'campanile'. Such towers are now rarely constructed but are kept primarily for their historic value.

Contents

Purpose

Distribution

Etymology: ''belfry''

Image gallery

See also

External links

Purpose

The bell is rung to signify the time, for special events such as weddings and funerals, or especially in old days to sound a civil defense or fire alarm.
Bell towers may also contain carillons, a musical instrument traditionally comprised of large bells which are sounded by cables, chains, or cords connected to a keyboard. These can be found in many churches in Europe and at some college and university campuses. In modern constructions that do not qualify as carillons, rather than using heavy bells the sound may be produced by the striking of small metal rods whose vibrations are amplified electronically and sounded through loudspeakers. Simulated carillon systems have also used recordings or samplings of bells onto tape, compact disc, or memory chips.[1]

Distribution

Historic belfries exist throughout Europe, from Ireland to Russia. Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, Lille, Tournai and Douai have famous examples. Not all are on a large scale; the "bell" tower of Katúň, in Slovakia, is typical of the many more modest structures which were once common in country areas. In the Middle Ages, cities sometimes kept their important documents in belfries.
In 1999 thirty-two Belgian belfries were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. In 2005 this list was extended with one Belgian and twenty-three French belfries and is since known as ''Belfries of Belgium and France''. Most of these were attached to civil buildings, mainly city halls, as symbols of the greater power the cities in the region got in the Middle Ages; a small number of buildings not connected with a belfry, such as bell towers of - or with their - churches, occur also on this same list (details).

Etymology: ''belfry''

The word ''belfry'' comes from Old French ''berfrei'' which is derived from Germanic ''bergan'' "to protect" and ''frithuz'' "peace"; that is, it was originally a watch tower providing protection against hostile incursions. These towers usually contained an alarm bell or bells, thus Middle English speakers thought ''berfrei'' had something to do with bells: they altered it to ''belfry'', an interesting example of the effect of false friends. Today's Dutch ''belfort'' seems to combine the bell with the stronghold.

Image gallery

See also

★ Campanile

★ Carillon

★ Clock tower

★ Belfries of Belgium and France, ensemble recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site

★ Irish round tower

External links

★ The Campanile at the University of California, Berkeley

★ Belfries of Belgium and France - UNESCO World Heritage Centre entry

★ Les Beffrois - France, Belgique, Pays-Bas