Sather Tower - The Campanile
Photo: Graham from Rickmansworth, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on UC Berkeley Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
At 307 feet, Sather Tower is the symbol of Berkeley and one of the tallest bell-and-clock towers in the world. Everyone calls it the Campanile, because it echoes St Mark's Campanile in Venice. Campus architect John Galen Howard designed it, and it was built in 1914, another gift from Jane K. Sather in memory of her husband, Peder.
The tower started with 12 bells in 1917. Expansions in 1979 and 1983 brought the carillon to 61, and you will often hear it played by hand during the school year.
An elevator takes visitors to an observation deck about 200 feet up, with views across the bay to the Golden Gate on a clear day. There is a small fee; check the website for current hours.
Look for the peregrine falcons that have nested near the top since 2017. Their nesting seasons are followed by live webcams and a devoted community of fans.
Getting here: Walk about 100 meters northeast to the base of the tall white tower.
Did you know?: The tower doubles as a fossil vault: the Department of Integrative Biology stores fossils, many from the La Brea Tar Pits, inside, where the cool, dry air protects them.
Photo op: Stand on the esplanade north of the tower and shoot straight up, or step back to frame the full tower with the hills behind.
More on Wikipedia: Sather Tower · John Galen Howard · St Mark's Campanile
Stops on this tour
- Sproul Plaza and Sather Gate - Birthplace of Free Speech
- Strawberry Creek - The Water That Chose the Campus
- Valley Life Sciences Building - A T. rex Indoors
- Memorial Glade - The Campus Front Lawn
- Doe Memorial Library - A Palace for Books
- South Hall - The Oldest Survivor
- Sather Tower - The Campanile
- Hearst Mining Building - A Monument to Mining
- Gilman Hall - Where Plutonium Was Identified
- Hearst Greek Theatre - An Ancient Stage in the Hills
- Faculty Glade - Oaks, Creek and 4.0 Hill