The Two Towers (), both leaning, are symbols of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy, and the most prominent of the Towers of Bologna. They are located at the intersection of the roads that lead to the five gates of the old ring wall (''mura dei torresotti''). The taller one is called the ''Asinelli''. The smaller tower with a greater lean is called the ''Garisenda''. Their names derive from the families which are traditionally credited with having constructed the towers between 1109 and 1119. Their construction may have been a competition between the two families to show which was the more powerful family. The scarcity of documents from this early period makes this uncertain. The name of the Asinelli family, for example, is documented for the first time in 1185, almost 70 years after the presumed construction of the tower which is attributed to them.

Asinelli Tower

It is believed that the Asinelli Tower initially had a height of ca. and was raised later to the current , with an overhanging battlement of 2.2 m (6.6 ft). In the 14th century the city became its owner and used it as a prison and small stronghold. During this period a wooden construction was added around the tower at a height of roughly 30 metres, about 100 feet, above ground, which was connected with an aerial footbridge to the Garisenda Tower. The footbridge was destroyed in a 1398 fire. Its addition is attributed to Giovanni Visconti,

Duke of Milan Milan was ruled by dukes from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. List of dukes of Milan House of Visconti In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti was titled Duke ...

, who allegedly wanted to use it to control the turbulent ''Mercato di Mezzo'', the central street, today the via Rizzoli, to suppress possible revolts. The Visconti had become the rulers of Bologna after the decline of the

Signoria A ''signoria'' () was the governing authority in many of the Italian city-states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The word ''signoria'' comes from ''signore'' (), or "lord", an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government", "governi ...

of the Pepoli family, but were rather unpopular in the city. Severe damage was caused by lightning that often resulted in small fires and collapses. In 1824 a

lightning rod A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it is most likely to strike the rod and be conducted ...

was installed. The tower has survived at least two documented large fires: the first in 1185 was due to

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

and a second one in 1398. The Asinelli Tower was used by the scientists

Giovanni Battista Riccioli Giovanni Battista Riccioli (17 April 1598 – 25 June 1671) was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. He is known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with falling bodies, for his discussion of ...

in 1640 and Giovanni Battista Guglielmini in the 1700s for experiments to study the motion of heavy bodies and the

Earth's rotation Earth's rotation or Earth's spin is the rotation of planet Earth around its own Rotation around a fixed axis, axis, as well as changes in the orientation (geometry), orientation of the rotation axis in space. Earth rotates eastward, in progra ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, between 1943 and 1945, it was used as a sight post: During bombing attacks, four volunteers took post at the top to direct rescue operations to places hit by Allied bombs. Later, a RAI television relay was installed on top.

Garisenda Tower

The Garisenda Tower today has a height of , with an overhang of . Initially, it was approximately 60 metres (about 200 feet) high, but had to be lowered in the 14th century due to a yielding of the ground which left it slanting and dangerous. In the early 15th century, the tower was bought by the ''Arte dei Drappieri'', which remained the sole owner until the ''Garisenda'' became municipal property at the end of the 19th century. It was cited several times by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

in the ''

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

'' and '' The Rhymes'', a confirmation of his stay in Bologna, and by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

in his ''Italian Journey''. The Two Towers were the subject of an

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous poem by Giosuè Carducci as part of the '' Barbarian Odes''. Charles Dickens wrote about the towers in his ''Pictures from Italy''. Antal Szerb wrote about them in ''The Third Tower: Journeys in Italy''. In October 2023, the tower was sealed off by the city of Bologna after fears the structure was tilting too far. Bologna officials noted that the tower has leaned since it was built; it had sustained additional damage in the medieval era when ironwork and bakery ovens were built inside. On 2 December 2023, the city announced that the tower was in danger of collapsing, and it began constructing a barrier to contain debris in the event of a fall. According to the city officials, work to prevent the collapse of the tower is expected to take at least 10 years and cost €20 million.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 44.4943, 11.3468, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Inclined towers Towers in Bologna Towers completed in the 12th century Twin towers 1119 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Italy