Europe is full of medieval cities with a great history, of which Italy is the protagonist. However, among its many historical cities, Bologna is not the first place that comes to mind. While it is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, which will attract the attention of MotoGP and Formula 1 enthusiasts by hosting the Imola and Misano tracks, it was also the capital of skyscrapers in the Middle Ages.

Stories mention nearly 300 towers in the city; one of them is almost 100 meters high and is still preserved. The bad news is that, like many of today’s skyscrapers, some are in danger.

Medieval Manhattan. Although its origins are unclear, Bologna’s founding date is 1116. The city’s heyday occurred in the mid-13th century, as it was one of the major European cities with a population of approximately 50,000. He later fell out of favor, but between the 12th and 13th centuries the city’s wealthiest families devoted themselves to two things: war and tower building.

Because towers were the symbol of power and what the aristocracy was looking for was to show off as well as to live in a house that was different from others and protectable. They were also used as civil towers (bells to warn of something), prisons or workplaces. There are chronicles claiming there were up to 300 towers, but this is widely debated and questioned.

Famous urban reconstruction. At a certain point in the 19th century, Count Giovanni Gozzadini set out to perfectly document the history of the city. He prepared a list of the towers by researching city archives and real estate purchase/sale documents. He concluded that there had once been 180 towers in Bologna, which was an absolute disgrace, but not all of them were huge, most being around 25 meters high.

An interpretation of what the city might have been like in its heyday

For that period, this was a respectable height, which also contrasted with the average height of traditional houses. But to date, more than 20 towers have survived. This was due to the urban reconstruction plan carried out in the early 20th century, which resulted in the demolition of many of these towers and part of the surviving wall. Two of these, the Artesini and Ricadonna towers, were demolished in 1919, very close to the absolute heroes of the Bolognese ‘sky line’.

The twin towers. There are very important towers in Bologna, such as Azzoguidi – 61 meters -, Portaparte – 59.5 meters or Arengo – 47 meters – but the two most famous are Garisenda – it reached 60 meters, although due to structural problems it was left at 48 meters and Asinelli It was decided. The latter measures a whopping 97.2 meters, 36 meters higher than the next tallest, and interestingly both were among the first to be built. They are estimated to have begun in 1109, and Garisenda was completed a year later, while Asinelli’s almost 100 mistresses took ten years.

Asinelli stairs

It is believed that the largest of them may have been even higher, as the upper walls were thick enough to allow a further 20 meters of elevation, but especially in the 14th century. Considering that it was used as a castle in the 19th century, it is almost 100 meters away and is quite imposing. . Due to its height and because it had already suffered some damage from lightning strikes, a lightning rod was installed in 1824.

On the verge of collapse. The Asinelli tower can be visited now and if you have a good background you can climb its 498 steps. They claim that the panoramic view of the city is impressive, but the Garisenda tower has not been well maintained for centuries. As we mentioned, it reached 60 meters, but after observing it sinking, they decided to shorten it to the current height. This does not prevent it from continuing to be slowly absorbed by the soil because the soil is not well settled and in many cases remediation plans have been put in place.

Asinelli also has a slight tendency, but this cannot be compared to Garisenda’s situation. What is interesting is that it was a useless tower due to this tilt, and what is surprising is that it was not one of the first towers to be demolished to save materials in the reconstruction of the 20th century or in earlier years. Of course, it’s better to be able to enjoy today.

II. World War. More recently, Asinelli was useful to Guiovanni Guglielmini, who contributed to the understanding of the Earth’s rotation with his law of falling bodies. Basically, he dropped 16 balls at different times from a height of about 73 meters to check the deflection. In World War II, four soldiers stood guard to send distress signals and respond to areas damaged by Allied bombers. And right now Italian national radio has a repeater.

Both are currently being monitored, specifically a Garisenda that has sensors that can detect both voltage noises and unusual fluctuations, providing information about its status. Incredible as it may seem, this is a problem that cities with large skyscrapers today also experience, because the consumption of groundwater and the weight of huge buildings prevent the land from settling as it should, and major Chinese capitals or New York sink very little. by small.

Pictures | Tango7174, Patrick Clenet, Toni Pecoraro, Italian Tourism

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