The Clock Tower in Mussomeli Has a Secret Older Than the Tower Itself

When you walk through Mussomeli, it’s easy to spend most of your time looking down. The streets are narrow, the paving can demand your full attention, and there’s usually a doorway or a little side street tempting you to see where it leads. And I don’t want to twist my ankle on the cobblestone.

But near Palazzo Roma, it pays to look up.

There stands Mussomeli’s clock tower, known as the Torre dell’Orologio or Torre Civica. It has the sort of presence that makes you assume it has looked exactly like this for centuries. As I’ve learned while living in Mussomeli, that’s a risky assumption. Buildings here tend to have more than one life.

The tower’s story begins during the rule of Don Cesare Lanza in the 1500s. At the top is a bell bearing the date 1555. Think about that for a moment: the bell is older than the tower you’re looking at today.

In 1875, the tower was restored, and large marble clock faces were placed on its east and south sides so people around town could read the time. I love the practical thinking behind that. This was a town clock doing an actual job, long before any of us could check the time on a phone every four minutes.

Then came a major change. The old tower was almost entirely demolished in 1906, and construction of the present tower began in 1910. So when someone tells you Mussomeli’s clock tower dates to the 1500s, there’s a little more to the story. Its history reaches back that far; much of the structure standing today is from the early 20th century.

And the details are worth a closer look. There are clock faces on three of its four sides. One window echoes the paired windows at Mussomeli’s castle, while the top has distinctive battlements. Above it all, an iron framework holds that much older bell.

That mix of old and newer is one of my favorite things about Mussomeli. A building doesn’t have to be frozen in time to carry its history. The tower has been restored, rebuilt, and changed to suit the town, yet the bell from 1555 is still up there connecting one version of Mussomeli to another.

The next time you pass it, take a minute to look up. Count the clock faces. Find the castle-inspired window. And remember that the oldest part of the story is waiting right at the top.

Of course, if you’re like me, you may then have to look down again to navigate the street. History is wonderful, but so is staying on your feet.