The Calandrino tower, also called the bell tower of the church of the Soccorso or the Rocca tower, is in the historic centre of Alcamo, standing about 70 centimetres apart from the church of Santa Maria del Soccorso. Two contracts record its construction as the confraternity's bell tower: on 30 July 1519 Baldassare Cannone sold the rectors one hundred blocks of hard stone, and on 3 September 1520 Vincenzo Maniscalco and Nicolò Di Chiara sold Pietro Tabone more slabs for the bell tower. According to some, however, the tower is older, built as a watchtower and later adapted as a bell tower.
What to see
Today only two sides can be seen, as the rest is hidden by neighbouring houses. The main body, excluding the belfry, is 16.35 metres high, with a small sixteenth-century-style cornice halfway up and another incomplete one. The base, 1.65 metres high, is made of well-squared stones about 65 centimetres long and 40 wide, like those described in the deed of 1519; the balcony on corso 6 Aprile was added around 1700.
Inside, a stone staircase of 85 steps, 50 of them spiral, leads to the terrace: it has never been restored, and the walls are still blackened by the smoke of the torches that lit the rooms for centuries. At the base is a large cistern that collected rainwater from the terrace.
Visiting
The tower is privately owned by the Calandrino family and is entered from the house it belongs to; the original entrance faced piazzetta Monsignor Ricceri. It can be seen from outside, from corso 6 Aprile.
Our editors' tip
There were once two bells, a large one on the west side and a smaller one to the north, removed around 1950 for safety reasons.
