the.com/belfry
the part of the tower where bells live and bats get their bad reputation.
means The upper part of a tower or steeple where bells are hung.
from From Old French 'berfrei,' a movable wooden siege tower used in medieval warfare — a structure for attacking, not for ringing. It traces back to a Germanic compound meaning roughly 'protective shelter' (think 'bergen,' to shelter, plus 'frith,' peace or safety). Over time the word drifted from war-towers to bell-towers, and English ears, hearing 'bel-,' reshaped it to match the bells it now housed — a tidy case of a word changing its job and its spelling to suit.
- name origin
- From a word for siege tower, not bells at all
- bats inside
- Old phrase 'bats in the belfry' means madness
- sound chamber
- Open louvers let the ringing escape, not weather in
- ringer's view
- Bell ringers usually work below, blind to the bells
- medieval war
- Original belfries rolled toward castle walls
bruges belfry — medieval bell tower in bruges, belgium, built 1282-1482, unesco world heritage site
laon cathedral belfry — 13th-century bell tower in laon, france, famous gothic belfry with prominent twin towers
bruges carillon — 47-bell carillon housed in the bruges belfry, one of europe's oldest and most renowned