1347–1348 · The building site clock
Torre del Maurizio
The small tower of the Duomo that houses one of the oldest documented mechanical automata in Europe.
The Cathedral tower
Keeper of time in Piazza del Duomo
The so-called Torre del Maurizio stands at the corner of Via del Duomo and Piazza del Duomo, beside the cathedral. It is directly bound up with the history of the Duomo building works and houses the bronze automaton that struck the bell to mark the rhythm of the labour.
More than a panoramic tower, it is a historical and technical symbol: a small masterpiece of medieval mechanics still working today.
01 — The history
The clock of the Duomo building site
The Opera del Duomo had the tower clock built between 1347 and 1348 to mark the working shifts during the construction of the cathedral. On the top were placed a bell and a bronze automaton dressed in medieval clothing.
The name Maurizio did not begin as the statue’s own name, but as a popular corruption of the word muricio, linked to the expression ariologium de muricio — the clock that marked the time of the works.
Good to know
The official Duomo website describes the ariologium de muricio orvietano as the first mechanical clock of its kind documented in Europe.
02 — The automaton
Maurizio, who strikes the hours
At the top of the tower stands the bronze automaton known as Maurizio, a medieval figure that strikes the hours on the bell and to this day continues its symbolic and practical role over Piazza del Duomo.
The automaton Maurizio at the top of the tower, still the symbol of the Duomo’s timekeeping.
03 — The bell
The sound that measured the working day
Around the hem of the automaton’s garment runs the inscription: “Da te a me campana fuoro pati / tu per gridare et io per fare i fati” — “from you to me, bell, the tasks were shared: you to call out, and I to do the deeds”. The official Duomo website also records that the bell was cast by Ugolino da Bologna in the mid-fourteenth century.
More than a civic bell, it was the working voice of the building site: a concrete signal that organised the daily rhythm around the construction of the Duomo.
04 — How to see it
Access and visits
The Torre del Maurizio is not an ordinary, always-open visit. The official Duomo website states that it can be entered only on special occasions, such as certain FAI open days, culture weeks or other significant events.
At the entrance to the tower, the mechanism and the automaton are also shown on screen through a dedicated webcam.
For extraordinary openings, access and any changes, check the official website of the Duomo di Orvieto.
Official Torre del Maurizio page →Quick answers