The Two Towers ( it, Le due torri), both of them leaning, are the symbol of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

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 ...

, 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'' while the smaller but more leaning tower 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. However, 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 actually only 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 only 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 (later destroyed during a fire in 1398) to the Garisenda Tower. Its addition is attributed to Giovanni Visconti,

Duke of Milan The following is a list of rulers of Milan from the 13th century to 1814, after which it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia by the Congress of Vienna. Before elevation to duchy Until 1259, Milan was a free commune that ele ...

, who allegedly wanted to use it to control the turbulent ''Mercato di Mezzo'' (today via Rizzoli) and suppress possible revolts. The

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

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; governing authority; ...

of the

Pepoli The Pepoli are an aristocratic banking family of Bologna, in northern Italy. They were lords of the city for thirteen years in the fourteenth century. A branch of the family moved to Trapani in Sicily and were granted several feudal lordships and ...

family, but were rather unpopular in the city. Severe damage was caused by lightning that often resulted in small fires and collapses, and only in 1824 was a lightning rod installed. The tower survived, however, at least two documented large fires: the first in 1185 was due to

arson Arson is the crime 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, wate ...

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

Giovanni Battista Riccioli Giovanni Battista Riccioli, SJ (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 ...

(in 1640) and

Giovanni Battista Guglielmini Giovanni Battista Guglielmini (; 16 August 1763 – 15 December 1817) was an Italian physicist. Guglielmini's experiments take place in the list of experiments by scientists ( Hooke, Guglielmini, Benzenberg, Reich, Foucault) to demonstrate the ...

(in the following century) for experiments to study the motion of heavy bodies and the earth rotation. In

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

television relay was installed on top. Architect

Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...

is thought to have been inspired by the Towers when designing the World Trade Center during the 1960s.

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 (; – 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: ' ...

in 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 a ...

'' and '' The Rime'' (a confirmation of his stay in Bologna), and by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

in his ''Italian Journey''. The Two Towers have also been the subject of an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous poem by

Giosuè Carducci Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was very noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906, h ...

as part of the '' Barbarian Odes''. Charles Dickens wrote about the towers in his ''Pictures from Italy''.

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