Venetian Clock Tower of Preveza

The clock tower stands on the old market street, against the metropolitan church of Agios Charalambos. A marble inscription over its door says it was built in 1792 with contributions from the citizens, when Alessandro Semitecolo was the Venetian governor (provveditore). It was one of the last public works of the Venetian period, which ended in 1797.

The tower is square and built of stone, on a base shaped like a cut-off pyramid. It was originally about 12.5 m high, with four levels. On its south face a carved relief shows Preveza's coat of arms from the Venetian years. The word ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΕΩΣ is still legible, although the dove at its centre has been carefully chiselled away. The same face carries a vertical sundial added during the last Ottoman period.

The first bell was cast in 1791 by the Canciani foundry of Venice. Around 1808 Ali Pasha took it to Ioannina, and it now hangs in the clock tower on that city's central square. A new bell and clock mechanism, made by Müller of Trieste, arrived in 1865. A belfry for the church was added on top in 1950, after an earthquake destroyed the old bell tower. The tower was restored in 1995–1996, and an electronic clock was fitted in 1999.