The Torre dei Gualandi (also known as the Muda Tower,) is a former tower in

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, central

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 ...

, now included in the

Palazzo dell'Orologio A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

. It is located on the north part of the ''

Piazza dei Cavalieri Piazza dei Cavalieri () is a landmark in Pisa, Italy, and the second main square of the city. This square was the political centre in medieval Pisa. After the middle of 16th century the square became the headquarters of the Order of the Knights ...

''. The original tower was located on the right side of the present building. Gualandi was the name of a Pisan family that owned the tower in the 13th century. Pisa

Ugolino della Gherardesca Ugolino della Gherardesca (March 1289), Count of Donoratico, was an Italian nobleman, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. Biography In the 13th century, the ...

, his sons and two grandsons were

immured Immurement (from the Latin , "in" and , "wall"; literally "walling in"), also called immuration or live entombment, is a form of imprisonment, usually until death, in which a person is sealed within an enclosed space without exits. This includes i ...

in the tower and starved to death in the 13th century.

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

, his contemporary, wrote about Gherardesca in his masterpiece ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

''.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20060720081434/http://www.sns.it/en/scuola/luoghi/palazzodellorologio/ * http://www.comune.pisa.it/turismo/itinerari/1itinerario-gb.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20061110050809/http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/ltpisa/ltparticles/ltp%20rapid%201948/ltp%20rapid%201948.htm * http://www.pisaonline.it/ulisse/eng/manoscritti.htm Towers in Pisa Former buildings and structures in Italy Former towers {{Italy-struct-stub pt:Palazzo dell'Orologio#História e Arquitectura

See also

External links