Restoration of Torre Apponale’s Old Clock Dials Moves Forward

The drawing of the “old” clock of Torre Apponale, characterized by a square outline and double numbering — with Arabic numerals inside and Roman numerals on the exterior band — was taken yesterday morning by the vice mayor to Trento, to the Cultural Heritage offices of the province for the routine approval.

The entire square, for nearly twenty years (since Mayor Mario Matteotti’s time when the council voted to place a protected status), has been under artistic protection: any visible intervention must be explicitly authorized. A fortiori, an element as important as the dial.

Reconstruction of the Dials

In recent weeks, at the municipal workshop, carefully and creatively assembling the pieces of the two ancient dials dismantled during the tower restoration works, the detailed shape of the dials has been reconstructed, including material specifics:

frames and Arabic numbers are made of iron, while the Roman numerals on the exterior and the ornamental fi gs at the four corners are bronze, and they will be reproduced exactly as they are.

Assessment and Project

The design, preliminarily evaluated by Architetto D’Agostino of the province during a recent trip to Riva, has been submitted for approval, which is now a foregone conclusion.

The original restoration project for the tower did not mention any interventions on the clock and the two dials on the south and west sides (roughly) of the tower.

Current State and Future Perspectives

During the process, with the removal of the dials, began the controversy that only now, after four years, seems to be approaching resolution.

Meanwhile, the dials were reduced to fragments: in fact, for a few weeks, until they reappeared at the workshop, popular opinion claimed they had ended up among the scrap metal (perhaps in the same place as the original old dial, laden with years and rust that would have deserved a pedestal in a museum).

As for timing, nothing has been decided yet: once the project from Trento is approved, the only remaining step will be to find a blacksmith capable of producing the dials to be installed afterward. Certainly, it’s not a matter of money.