The tower, built at the end of the 17th century, reconstructs the previous gate, which had been destroyed. An interesting clock is placed there, as evidenced by the arrangement of the rooms inside. At a height of eight meters, there is a first room containing two blocks of trachyte, once used as counterweights for the clock; at twelve meters, the ancient room for the rods and joints is located. Finally, at a height of about twenty meters, we find the bell chamber, which contains the supporting structure of the bronze bell cast in 1637.
The Tower is described with a certain fidelity on maps, so much so that between the charts prior to 1690 and those afterwards, one can see the differences of the new "Civic Tower" that has replaced the previous "Carrarese Wall" one, damaged by the earthquake. The rebuilt tower no longer has any defensive function, to the point that it does not even highlight the presence of the gates: the city has expanded well beyond Bisatto since the 1600s.
The relationship between the city center and Bisatto is very close at this point: you go from the main street to the sign of the urban boundary in just a few meters.
The functional organization of the tower is largely dedicated to the clock, which is very old and is a pride of the city. Above the door is a first room containing two blocks of trachyte, once used as counterweights for the clock preceding the current one (redone with the tower in 1690); on the upper floor is the clock mechanism, in the room known as "the rods and joints." Above that is the bell chamber, with the bell cast in bronze in 1637.
A first restoration was done in 1815 (as evidenced by the inscription on the Tower), while in 1870 work was carried out to separate it from the adjacent buildings, in order to allow a pedestrian passage separate from the vehicular one. The project was implemented only on the west side of the Tower.
The Tower still constitutes one of the landmarks that make up the image of Este in the memory of its inhabitants and visitors. Its iconic importance is certainly enhanced by its position, opposite and symmetrical to the gate at the Castle Park, along the most important commercial axis of the city: Via Matteotti.
