Rochester: Carillon bells ring out from Mayo Clinic tower

Plummer bell tower in Rochester
Huge carillon bells are housed in the Plummer Building bell tower at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Kirk Klocke

By Kirk Klocke, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a user submission to Minnesota Sounds, an ongoing Minnesota Today feature that captures iconic sounds from across the state.

Rochester is home to one of three carillons in the state.

The massive instrument is housed in Mayo Clinic's Plummer Building bell tower.

Rain or shine, snow or sleet, Mayo's resident carilloneur and his understudies play 30-minute sets eight times each week.

The carillon's 56 bells ring out through much of downtown Rochester. The largest of the bells weighs four tons.

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