My German dentist friend sent me this photo yesterday. It is the beginning of the end for the little lighthouse in his home town of Bremerhaven. Shortly it will fall into the dock.
Their visitor attraction large sail ship recently sunk too. The Bremerhaven town officials do not seem to be taking good care of their heritage. Maybe it is a sign of the times.
My first thought was of the tower of Pisa, which the town officials now seem to have dealt with after about 400 years, but then I remembered the collapse of the tower in St Marks Square, Venice, which was actually filmed and photographed in 1902. They had a few hours warning given by the cracks appearing, so the only casualty was a cat. I wonder why they didn't evacuate it.
It is astounding to think that they cleared up this colossal pile in the square and rebuilt it exactly as it was within 10 years. I think I would have just moved somewhere else. I am also amazed at how little damage it caused to the surrounding buildings. It was like a modern (successful) demolition job.
This was not the first time it has been rebuilt either. It was struck by lightening in 1489 and caught fire, eventually causing it to collapse into the square. Those Venetians are stoic and resourceful, especially considering that the whole city has been sinking into the Adriatic since it was built.
Poor little lighthouse. Poor little cat.
I didn't know that about the St Marks tower. I've walked up the existing one ..... those Italian towers are so difficult to walk up especially now I'm getting older ! XXXX
ReplyDeleteLast time I was in Venice I could hardly walk down a street, never mind a tower like that.
DeleteYou've obviously never tried to catch a cat who doesn't want to be caught! I've been reading a lot about Venice recently (Titian), will pay more attention to the tower, presuming it was there then.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I bet there were quite a few places to hide in that tower.
DeleteI came here to comment the same as the veg artist. Cats who do not want to be caught rarely are.
DeleteTo give it its correct name, St Mark's Campanile. I never think of it as just a tower.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to give it its correct name you should call it Campanile San Marco.
DeleteEven better.
DeleteWhat a mess it made when it collapsed. Reminded me of the Fred Dibnah days when we all waited with baited breath for the fall.
ReplyDeleteSometimes for days.
DeleteThe sea reclaims land along coastlines and takes anything it wants. Most coastlines are changing drastically. My neighbor owns her family home on the LI sound in Madison, CT and it's built on a sandbar. Beautiful 360 degree water views. But every ocean storm floods the first floor of the house. Not my ideal. She seems to think it will be okay for another 100 years.
ReplyDeleteWell she might outlive it.
DeletePoor little lighthouse.
ReplyDeleteYes. It reminds me of one of the 7 dwarves.
DeleteI can't help thinking it would be symbolic if Big Ben did the same.
ReplyDeleteAnother understatement.
DeleteI love knob/ lighthouse posts
ReplyDeleteI know you do.
DeleteA good number turned out to look for that cat!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it has a marked grave.
DeleteThe Venetian photos are amazing! I never knew about this. Amazing they had the nous to photograph it for posterity. The lighthouse, meanwhile, will end up with thousands of photos and videos of its eventual demise on the internet, of rather more varying degrees of impressiveness, I expect.
ReplyDeleteThere is a film of it collapsing which I couldn't find.
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