"In the year 1776, on the second day of September, the ordinary council was convoked, ... as it is well known that, on the 26th of May last, there was effected the removal of a belfry, 7 trabucs (22.5 m.) or more in height, from the church called _Madonna del Palazzo_, with the concurrence and in the presence and amid the applause of numerous people of this city and of strangers who had come in order to be witnesses of the removal of the said tower with its base and entire form, by means of the processes of our fellow-citizen Serra, a master mason who took it upon himself to move the said belfry to a distance of 3 meters, and to annex it to a church in course of construction. In order to effect this removal, the four faces of the brick walls were first cut and opened at the base of the tower and on a level with the earth. Into the apertures from north to south, that is to say in the direction that the edifice was to take, there were introduced two large beams, and with these there ran parallel, external to the belfry and alongside of it, two other rows of beams of sufficient length and extent to form for the structure a bed over which it might be moved and placed in position in the new spot, where foundations of brick and lime had previously been prepared. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--REMOVAL OF A BELFRY AT CRESCENTINO IN 1776] "Upon this plane there were afterward placed rollers 3½ inches in diameter, and, upon these latter, there was placed a second row of beams of the same length as the others. Into the eastern and western apertures there were inserted, in cross-form, two beams of less length. "In order to prevent the oscillation of the tower, the latter was supported by eight joists, two of these being placed on each side and joined at their bases, each with one of the four beams, and, at their apices, with the walls of the tower at about two-thirds of its height. "The plane over which the edifice was to be rolled had an inclination of one inch. The belfry was hauled by three cables that wound around three capstans, each of which was actuated by ten men. The removal was effected in less than an hour. "It should be remarked that during the operation the son of the mason Serra, standing in the belfry, continued to ring peals, the bells not having been taken out. "Done at Crescentino, in the year and on the day mentioned." A note communicated to the Academie des Sciences at its session of May 9, 1831, added that the base of the belfry was 3.3 m. square. This permits us to estimate its weight at about 150 tons. [Illustration: FIG. 2.--MOVING THE WINGED BULLS FROM NINEVEH TO MOSUL IN 1854] Fig. 1 shows the general aspect of the belfry with its stays. This is taken from an engraving published in 1844 by Mr. De Gregori, who, during his childhood, was a witness of the operation, and who endeavored to render the information given by the official account completer without being able to make the process much clearer.