The first mention of a “public clock tower” in Ugento dates to 1835. In 1879, a decision was made to build a sturdier replacement, commissioned by Mayor Vito Pezzulla and designed by engineer Rocco Pasanisi with master mason Ippazio Mura.
The Clock Tower stands in the heart of the town, overlooking Piazza San Vincenzo, home to the statue of the patron saint and the Cathedral. The tower’s lower section is adorned with graceful Liberty-style arches, and its terrace once came alive on Sundays with classical music concerts organized by the local administration.
The fish market beneath the tower: delicacies for the House of Savoy
The 19th-century tower lasted just a few decades before it needed partial demolition and reconstruction. The renewed structure was completed in 1912, standing as the landmark we see today. The tower’s façade features the public clock, the World War I monument to the Fallen, and Ugento’s civic coat of arms, showing Hercules crowned by Winged Victory, with “Ozan”—the town’s ancient Messapian name—inscribed beside it.
Beneath the still-standing porticoes, the town’s lively fish market once came alive, filling the air with the bustle and scents of the sea. Much like towns in Umbria and Piedmont were famed for supplying the royal family with prized truffles, Ugento proudly provided the House of Savoy*—and especially Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s first king—with the delicate red mullet caught each week off the coast of nearby Torre San Giovanni.
Today, right beneath these very arches, you can admire the original early-20th-century clock mechanism, donated to Ugento by the Colosso family* and fully restored thanks to the care and support of the “Pro Loco Ugento e Marine”.
*The House of Savoy was Italy’s royal family from 1861 to 1946, playing a key role in the country’s unification and history
*Colosso family: Ugento’s historic noble family, known for Palazzo Colosso and its archaeological collection, now open to the public at the Museo Colosso.
