Bissara Tower is a civic tower that overlooks Piazza dei Signori, alongside the famous Palladian Basilica. With its 82 meters is one of the tallest buildings in Vicenza.
The earliest records date back to 1174 when the tower was built at the behest of the family Bissari, next to their building. Between 1211 and 1229 the municipality of Vicenza bought both the building (with the intention of turning it into the mayor's office) and the tower. Escaped the terrible earthquake of January 25, 1347, it was raised in the mid- fifteenth century to reach the present height. Inside were placed the relics of saints and the five bells. There were many interventions which, over the centuries, were done to maintain the stability and beauty of the tower.
On 18 March 1945, the tower (along with the Palladian Basilica) was hit by an Anglo-American bombing. The top of the tower caught fire and the dome collapsed to the ground:  the tower was  severed. The bells also had fallen off, destroying the pavement of the square. Together with the Basilica, in the years after the tower was rebuilt, not without controversy concerning the form, in part different from the original. Not all of the bells were also relocated, nor the ball indicating the moon phases (which was placed under the clock).

In 2002 the project was approved for a radical restoration of the tower. The intervention moved in two directions: on the one hand the static consolidation (ever-present problem in Vicenza given to the abundance of water in the subsoil), another on the restoration of surfaces, ornaments and decorations. The dial has been painted cobalt blue (as it was originally), the sphere of the moon phases (thanks to a donation from a well-known jewelry) has been repositioned  and the bells replaced (donated by the Rotary Club Vicenza Berici).

Feature of the tower is, in addition to the normal sound of the hours and half-hours, also the ninth hour. This is a particular melody composed by Maestro Valtinoni (restored in 2005) played seven minutes before noon and seven minutes before eighteen. (Originally in place of 18 it wad played at midnight). The largest bell, in a tone of I, was created in 1663 by founder Christopher Murari.