The Italian city of Bologna has many names. Bologna is called thick, red, scholarly. Also, this city should be called the city of towers. The towers were built by the wealthy families of Bologna to demonstrate their influence and were also used for defensive purposes.
Once in Bologna there were about 180 towers, nowadays there are only 17. Most of the towers were destroyed by people in the 13-14 centuries or simply fell down on their own.
The two adjacent towers Asinelli and Garisenda are symbols of the city of Bologna. They were built at a strategically important point in the city, at that time the Emilian Way entered the city here. The towers stand in the middle of Piazza di Porta Ravenana.
The Asinelli Tower (Torre degli Asinelli) is the tallest tower in Bologna and the tallest leaning tower in Italy. The inhabitants of Bologna do not understand at all why the Leaning Tower of Pisa is so famous, which, in principle, is not a tower, but a bell tower ...
You can climb 498 wooden steps to the observation deck of the Asinelli Tower for 3 euros. The entrance to the old tower is already impressive!
The Asinelli Tower was built from selenite in 1109-1119. Next to it there is a small fortress with a barracks for soldiers, where the shops of artisans are now located.
The height of the Asinelli tower is 97.2 meters. The deviation from the vertical axis is currently about 2.23 meters.
Judging by the structures inside, attempts are being made to prevent further inclination of the tower.
The tower is formed by two truncated pyramids. The base of the tower is about 9 meters.
The climb to the Asinelli tower is quite tiring, but there are always a lot of people willing to climb.
In the 18th century, the scientist Giovanni Guglielmini conducted various experiments on the Asinelli tower, studying gravity.
Already from the windows of the tower, beautiful views of historical Center Bologna.
At the top of the tower, Asinelli is simply breathtaking.
The neighboring Garisenda Tower seems very tiny.
The Garisenda Tower was built after 1119. Originally the tower was 60 meters high, but in the 14th century the tower was truncated to 48 meters due to the danger of collapse. Today, the deviation of the Garisenda tower from the vertical axis is 3.22 meters.
The main cathedral of Bologna, the Basilica of San Petronio, is clearly visible from the tower.
Stunning views from the Asinelli Tower are adorned with postcards and travel brochures. IN good weather the sea is visible from the tower.
On the observation deck always strong wind that in hot weather after a tiring ascent it is very pleasant.
The descent from the Asinelli tower along the steep narrow steps is much longer, although, of course, less tiring.
Narrow, worn wooden steps make you turn sideways when descending and be very attentive.
The University of Bologna students never climb the Asinelli Tower. It is believed that the one who climbed this tower will not graduate from the university. Asino is a donkey in Italian, which is why the Asinelli tower is sometimes called the Donkey's tower. Perhaps the student's omen is related to this.
Among the other surviving towers of Bologna, the most famous is the Azzoguidi Tower, also called Altabella (61 meters high); Prendiparte, called Coronata (60 meters); Scappi (39 meters), Uguzzoni (32 meters), as well as the Guidozagni and Galluzzi towers. I haven’t managed to get in there yet.
What do you see in this engraving or painting? It looks like some kind of area with skyscrapers like Manhattan or something in New York! Well, this is definitely some kind of urban area of a modern city.
Will it surprise you if I say that this is medieval Bologna of the 12th century. How did it happen?
Bologna is a city of towers. They are one of the main attractions of the city. Unfortunately, not so many towers have survived to this day. But in the Middle Ages, the city imagined a real forest of towers, and looked something like this:
The main heyday of the "Bolognese towers" came about the 12th - 13th centuries, when their number reached over 180. The reasons for the construction of such a large number of towers are still not clear. According to one of the versions, wealthy families used them for attack / defense during the period of struggle for investiture.
Besides the towers, one can also see the fortified gate (torresotti) corresponding to the 12th century fortress wall (Mura dei torresotti or Cerchia dei Mille), although the wall itself was almost completely destroyed.
In the 13th century, many of the towers were demolished, while others simply collapsed. Several surviving towers have been used in different ways, serving as a prison, city tower, shop, or even a residential building. The last demolitions occurred in 1917, when two towers were demolished for an ambitious but unsuccessful plan to redevelop the city.
So the current landscape of Bologna looks completely different:
No more than 20 such towers remain in Bologna today. The most famous of these are Asinelli and Garisenda, whose iconic form is a famous symbol of the city. Both towers are named after the names of their owners. The Asinelli Tower is 97 m taller, but the 48 m Garisenda has a more visible slope with a deviation of 3 m. Both towers had an initial height of about 60-70 m, but when the Garisenda began to tilt, its height dropped. The Asinelli tower, on the other hand, was increased in height in the fourteenth century, when it was converted into a city prison and housed a small citadel.
During this period, a wooden structure was added around the Tower at a height of 30 meters, with an aerial footbridge leading to the Garisenda Tower. Pedestrian bridge was destroyed in a fire in 1398.
Some of the towers can even be climbed to admire the panorama of the city, although most of they are still closed to tourists.
I must say that for medieval town with its limited resources, building the towers was not an easy task. It usually took 3 to 10 years to build a 60-meter tower. At the same time, slaves and prisoners of war were mainly involved in the construction. There is a version that the main towers of Bologna - "Two Towers" - from the very beginning they were built at an angle, therefore they are also called falling towers by the people. According to another version, this is still a construction defect. The towers were located in the very center medieval Bologna, in the place where all the roads from the city gates crossed.
These towers were named after the main sponsors of the construction. The Asinelli Tower was often used by Italian scientists to conduct various kinds of experiments. During the Second World War, there was a civil defense post on the tower, whose task was to detect fires in Bologna during the bombing. After the war, a television antenna was installed at the top of the tower. We also add that "The Two Towers" were quoted several times by Dante in his "Divine Comedy".
Such houses were built in the form of a quadrangle - a truncated trapezoid. The base, extending 7-10 meters into the ground, consisted of selenite blocks, and the walls were double - and the inner wall was much more powerful than the first. The gap between the walls was filled with cement, as well as rubble or stones. The thickness of the walls sometimes reached 2 meters.
Bologna is one of the oldest cities in Italy. Here are a large number of universities and 1/3 of the entire population of the city are visiting students from all over the world. In spite of ancient history city and its architecture, Bologna is the most "lively" city in the country, as it is the youth here that sets the pace of life.
Architectural features of Bologna
The city owes its rich and varied architecture to the sometimes ridiculous laws by which people lived on this territory centuries ago. For example, the famous arched galleries of the city arose thanks to a tax that was levied for every meter of a building standing on the ground. Thus, homeowners tried to increase the area of their estates, while paying a minimum tax. The length of the arched galleries today is almost 40 km and thanks to them Bologna is called "a city without a sky."
Between the 12th and 13th centuries in Bologna, nobles began to use their wealth to build a personal tower. Each tower in Bologna served as a home, warehouse and was a demonstration of the owner's wealth and protection from ill-wishers. The higher the tower was, the correspondingly more influential and richer its owner was.
- There used to be 140 towers in Bologna, but today only 21 remain. Construction was carried out uncontrollably and in the end, basic technical safety measures were no longer observed during construction.
The towers have survived to this day
As a result, most of the towers began to collapse within 50 years after being built. Those towers that have stood today represent interesting feature architecture of Bologna. It is the towers that are the main and most popular sights of the city today.
"Two famous symbols of the city"
The "Two Towers" (the falling towers of Bologna), the traditional symbol of Bologna, were built on a strategic site for the military defense of the city. In the original plan, the towers were reinforced with wooden structures and there should be overhanging galleries around the base of the towers. Today they are located right in the Porta Ravegnana square. The "Two Towers" were built of stone, like all the other towers of Bologna.
The buildings are called Asinelli and Garisenda and have been a symbol of the city for many centuries. Over time, the tower of the Garisenda leaned heavily and locals called them falling. The second tower stands almost perfectly level to this day.
Asinelli
The Asinelli Tower was built in 1109-1919 by the Asinelli family, but already in the next century it was under the full control of the city authorities. The height of the building is 97.2 m, the thickness of the walls is about 2 meters. A staircase was built in the building, but it was completed only in 1684. In 1488, barracks were added to the tower to accommodate sentry soldiers. Today, there are several souvenir shops and ateliers here, in memory of the great trade of the Middle Ages.
ticket costs = 3 euros
- Tourists can get to the tower for only 3 euros. It is interesting that local students have a sign that they cannot go up here until they graduate from the university. This is considered bad luck.
Garisenda
The Garisenda Tower was built almost simultaneously with its sister and was already much smaller from the beginning - 47 meters. Due to the subsidence of the soil, the foundation of the building began to sag and the building had to be shortened. The Garisenda Tower is exactly that inclined stump that stands with a tall, even neighbor. Throughout the history of the building, it was shortened 3 times.
Tower Prendiparte
The Prendiparte is the second tallest tower in Bologna today. Its height is 61 meters. It was built over 800 years ago. The walls here are 2.5 meters thick. Today, there is a hotel here, consisting of only one room. This hotel is one of the three most unusual hotels in the world.
The hotel room consists of 12 floors: on the first floor - an entrance hall and a bathroom; on the second - a bedroom; on the 3rd - kitchen and buffet: on the 4th - the dining room; 5th - prison: 6th to 11th- technical floors and on the 12th - roof terrace.
- All other towers are privately owned. They are quite low and do not open a panoramic view from them. So they are not in demand among tourists.
Best time to visit Bologna
From spring to late autumn lasts tourist season in the Emilia-Romagna region, the capital of which is Bologna. This period is best suited for leisurely walks and excursions, including the falling towers.
Bologna's summers can be hot and humid, but winters are generally long and dark. Any season has its advantages: in December, the city is immersed in the atmosphere of Christmas, and in January, the season of sales in stores starts.
Let's take a break before the highly informative stories about Bologna churches and take a walk around the city.
The symbol of Bologna is the Two Towers - Garisenda and Asinelli. In general, it is believed that in the communal era (XII-XIII centuries) in Bologna there were up to 100 towers, now only 24 are left. Towers became victims of wars, fires, decrees of the papal government and grandiose plans for the reconstruction of the city (the last "victims" fell in 1918- 1919); moreover, the surviving towers have considerably "sagged" and are almost invisible in the ordinary urban development. But in spite of everything in the world, a pair of towers, built between 1109 and 1119, survived in the center in greater or lesser state of preservation.
The right (larger) one is called Asinelli, its current height is 97.2 m, although the researchers, based on the thickness of the walls at the base, suggest that the original height was 25 meters more. The left (smaller) is called Garisenda, its height is 48 m (according to calculations it was 60 m) 
The vaunted Leaning Tower of Pisa did not stand next to our (this is me on behalf of the Bolognese say to you) Garisenda!
And you can climb the Asinelli tower for a symbolic bribe. True, inside there is a tiring climb up a narrow steep staircase, with practically no resting areas. Of course, I couldn't miss it and ... I was punished for my arrogance. Let me remind you that it rained continuously on January 2, 3 and 4, and on the 5th it stopped only at lunchtime. Just on January 5, I returned from Modena at about 15 o'clock and decided (about the madness of youth, senile marasmus!) To look at Bologna from above. Alas, the air was so saturated with moisture that the photos turned out to be gloomy and unsuccessful, and I myself was chilled at the top. True, there were many such fools, and this served as a considerable consolation)))
So, we study Bologna from above. 
Turned back to you Cathedral San Pietro. We will go there again, although of all the Bologna churches I have seen, the cathedral left the least
In front of you main square Bologna - Piazza Maggiore. To her right are two magnificent examples of the Middle Ages - Palazzo Podesta and Palazzo Enzo. To the left of the square rises another symbol of Bologna - the Basilica of San Petronio (yes, with an unfinished facade)
Another look at San Petronio. And in front of him, the dome of the Church of Santa Maria della Vita impudently climbs into the frame.
But in the fog, two palazzo Podestas and Enzo are visible: 
The most bitter disappointment of the trip is the Madonna di San Luca Basilica on the hill. On the afternoon of January 2, I hoped to see Bologna from there, but there was such a fog that literally 20 meters away, nothing could be seen. However, I'll talk about this later. As you can see, on January 4, the fog is still there, on the mountain and on the mountain ... 
And this is the monastery of Santo Stefano.
Well, now let's go down and fast forward back in time. So, we have again on January 2, it is raining, but the stubborn author stands on the porch of the Basilica of San Petronio and photographs Piazza Maggiore. 
Before you Palazzo Accursio (named after the original owner - the famous Bolognese glossator) or Palazzo Communale (XIII-XVII centuries) 
In two photographs, in parts, the Palazzo Podesta (XIII-XV centuries) is captured, initially the Bolognese Podestà lived here, and then the local signors Bentivoglio. Behind this palazzo is another - Palazzo Enzo; we saw it all from the Asinelli tower.
Palazzo Banks (16th century)
Between the two palazzi Accursio and the Podestà, there is another square - Piazza Nettuno, on which there is a fountain of the same name. The Fountain of Neptune was made in 1563-1565 according to the project of Tommaso Laureti, and Neptune himself was sculpted by Giambologna.
Bologna towers are poorly suited for defense and are not very suitable for observation. These structures were used for the phallometry of the city clans.
Arab sheikhs striving to surpass each other in the height of skyscrapers had worthy predecessors in medieval Europe... The richest urban clans built a real Manhattan in Bologna in the 12th century. There were also twin towers among the Bologna skyscrapers. 12 of them have survived to this day.
War of Thrones
Since the 8th century, Italy has been torn apart by the struggle between the Catholic Church and secular rulers for the right to appoint bishops and abbots. In this struggle, Bologna, like other Italian cities, many times came under the control of local princes, kings, emperors, bishops.
In a confused political situation, the cities of Italy are bristling with defensive towers. At the same time, at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, Bologna skyscrapers began to rise into the sky. According to various sources, from 100 to 180 were built. Among them is the highest leaning tower in Italy - the 97-meter Azinelli.
The symbol of Bologna is a tower with a slope of more than 2 meters.
Tower of Asinelli in Bologna. Photo: Libera latino / CC BY-SA 4.0 View of the city from the Asinelli tower. Image Credit: Revol Web / Flickr
For comparison:
- Tower of Asinelli. The tallest tower in Bologna. Construction began between 1109-1119. Height - 97.2 meters. Deviation from the vertical by 2.2 meters. The reason for the slope is uneven soil settlement.
- Tower of the Garisenda, Bologna. Height - 48 meters. The slope is 3.2 meters. It is believed that the tower was originally built as an inclined tower.
- Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa. Height - 55.86 meters from the ground on the lowest side and 56.7 meters on the highest. The construction of the tower began on August 9, 1173, with two long breaks lasted for almost 200 years. The slope is 5.5 meters.
Your quirks
The towers belonged to influential families, whose power was judged by the height of the structure and the ability to mobilize many relatives, friends and servants in an attack - on a city or a clan in the case of a vendetta. Blood feud was considered both a right and a duty of aspirants to leadership.
The high-rise towers most likely did not have a defensive function. These were grandiose and costly symbols of power. So, in the tower of Asinelli, which is higher in height than the Statue of Liberty, there are no loopholes or galleries. It is also inconvenient for observation - the city is often covered with haze, and the mountains obscure the surroundings. It will also not work to quickly climb to the top of the tower to give a signal: you need to climb 498 steps along a narrow wooden staircase.
There is a romantic legend and a believable story about the builders of Asinelli.
A romantic legend says that a young donkey driver (asino - "donkey" in Italian) lived in Bologna, bringing sand and rubble from the river for construction projects. He fell in love with a rich beauty. The strict father promised to allow the wedding if the guy builds the tallest tower in Bologna. The next day, a young man in love found a treasure - a bag of gold. After 10 years, he built a tower, the young people got married, lived happily ever after.
The pragmatic version is based on documents from the city archives. Knight Gerardo Asinelli began building a tower between 1109 and 1119 next to his home. Even the second president of the United States, John Adams, mentioned his family in his works on Italian history:
“In 1202, civil unrest broke out in Bologna ... The first flared up because of the ancient enmity between Asinelli and Scanabecchi. The two clans gathered on the main street with weapons in hand, and many were killed and wounded on both sides. "
