By taking one of the small streets on the right of Via Colombo 51 toward Piazza XXVII Ottobre, you reach Via Caneve; from there, going straight ahead, you arrive in Via Palazzo, which you can follow all the way to the Civic Tower of Mestre. This is the only remaining structure of the city’s former defensive system, which once consisted of as many as eleven towers and small watchtowers.
From 1573 onwards, the tower was equipped with a public clock and with a “Deputy for its Custody and Regulation,” although from the documentation currently available the details of the mechanism that powered the ancient clock are unknown (Barcella, 1839).
The first documents attesting to the presence of the Civic Tower of Mestre date back to the 1200s, when the village of Mestre was ruled by the Collalto family. The tower, 24 metres high, was restored in the 17th century: some elements, such as the roof battlements, were added in the 19th century. The Castle of Mestre actually refers to two distinct fortresses, better known as Castelvecchio and Castelnuovo, built to defend the village and the port of Mestre.
Inside Castelvecchio there were a church, the Captain’s building, a warehouse for provisions, and several houses with their own well.
There were three entrances to the fortified town: the Belfredo Tower to the west, Porta Altino or Porta dei Molini to the east, and the Civic Tower, also known as Porta di Borgo or Porta della Loza. These gates were also the points where duties on trade were collected.
