Torre Branca ("Branca Tower") is an iron panoramic tower located in

Parco Sempione Parco Sempione ("Simplon Park") is a large city park in Milan, Italy. Established in 1888, it has an overall area of , and it is located in the historic centre of the city, inside the Zone 1 administrative division. The park is adjacent to the g ...

, the main city park of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is 108.6 m high, which makes it the sixth highest structure in Milan after Unicredit Tower (231 m),

Allianz Tower Allianz Tower ( it, links=yes, Torre Allianz), also known as Isozaki Tower ( it, links=yes, Torre Isozaki), is a fifty-floor, skyscraper in Milan, Italy. Designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki and Italian architect Andrea Maffei, it serves ...

(209 m)

Palazzo Lombardia Palazzo Lombardia ("Lombardy Palace") is a complex of buildings in Milan, Italy, including a 43-storey, tall skyscraper. It is the main seat of the Lombardy regional government, located in the Centro Direzionale di Milano (CBD, Central Business ...

(161 m), Pirellone or

Pirelli Tower Pirelli Tower (Italian: ''Grattacielo Pirelli'' – also called "''Pirellone''", literally "Big Pirelli") is a 32-storey, skyscraper in Milan, Italy. The base of the building is , with a length of and a width of . The construction used approxima ...

(127 m) and the

Breda Tower The Breda Tower ( it, Torre Breda) is a 30-storey, skyscraper in Milan, Italy. The tower was built in 1954 on a design by architects Eugenio and Ermenegildo Soncini, with Luigi Mattioni.The tower was designed by Eugenio and Ermenegildo Soncini w ...

(116 m). The top of the tower is a panoramic point whose view, on a clear day, may encompass the Milan cityline as well as the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, and part of the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

History

The tower was designed by architect

Gio Ponti Giovanni "Gio" Ponti ( ͡ʒo18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more tha ...

and inaugurated in 1933, in the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

era during the 5th edition of the

Milan Triennial The ''Milan Triennial'' (Triennale di Milano) is an art and design exhibition that takes place every three years at the Triennale di Milano Museum in Milan, Italy. History The exhibition was originally established in 1923 as a biennial architect ...

. It was originally named "Torre Littoria" after ''fascio littorio'', i.e., the ''

fasces Fasces ( ; ; a ''plurale tantum'', from the Latin word ''fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbo ...

''. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was renamed "Torre del Parco" ("park tower"). In 1972, access to the top of the tower was closed as the structure needed restoring. It was restructured in 2002 by the

Branca Branca is a feminine given name. It means "white" in Portuguese (it is a Portuguese cognate of the name Blanche). People with the surname *Infanta Branca, Lady of Guadalajara (1192–1240), Portuguese royal * Infanta Branca of Portugal (1259–1 ...

liquor company, and thus renamed Torre Branca. Since 2002 it is again open to the public.

References

Buildings and structures in Milan Tourist attractions in Milan Towers in Italy Towers completed in 1933 World's fair architecture in Italy {{Milan-geo-stub