Torre delle Ore

This guide to the Torre delle Ore in Lucca follows the men who, for centuries, climbed its two hundred and seven wooden steps twice a day to wind the clock by hand before the hour struck. It traces the tower back to the twelve hundreds, when it was one of roughly a hundred and thirty rival noble towers in Lucca, through its bitter ownership disputes, its purchase by the city, and the 1390 clock built by goldsmith Labruccio Cerlotti. Climb the same worn stair today and you arrive at the bell chamber out of breath, exactly as the winders once did.