After the tower in Pisa, it is without doubt the most easily recognised tower in Tuscany, indeed in the whole of Italy. 

It was named after Giovanni di Balduccio, nicknamed ''il Mangia'' or ''Mangiaguadagni'' because of his combination of gluttony and miserliness. He rang the hours in the bell tower and his likenesses in wood and in stone substituted for him in the role of bell-ringer for centuries after his death.


The tower was started in 1325 and finished in 1348, just before the arrival of the Black Death. It is 87 metres high (102 with the lightning conductor). The tower was designed by Francesco and Muccio di Rinaldo, artists from Arezzo, who entrusted its construction to Mastro Agostino di Giovanni. The whole tower is in cotto - Tuscan red brick - except for the cresting at the top, done in white travertine marble. This elongated cresting was apparently designed, by the great Lippo Memmi, Simone Martini's brother-in-law. The clock was added in 1360 by Bartolomeo Guidi. The clock face was painted in 1428 and in 1776 reclad in stone, decorated with a fresco which was covered. These last two elements disappeared with the restoration done at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The campana maggiore dates back to 1666, the third replacement after the original of 1348 and the unsuccessful one of 1634. It weighs 6.76 tonnes and because of its bulk, was installed above the bell-chamber, where it is now. Even this melted down version was not done perfectly, so to improve its sound, a small section was removed. Even today, its sound varies according to where it is struck by the batacchio - the clapper. Rung manually only on the day of the Palio, its particular sound is associated by the Sienese with the imminence of the festival.