When you’re thinking about leaning towers in Italy you’ll probably think a bit the famous one at Pisa. Another city of towers was in the past Bologna, as many families had their own ones (giving the city the name La Turrita). And in the center you’ll find two towers that are leaning like the famous one: the Torre Asinelli and the Torre Garisenda. They are not so beautifully decorated as in medieval times they were used for military purposes; today they are the icons of the city of Bologna.
The Torre Asinelli was built from 1109 by the Asinelli family and you can climb 498 steps to enjoy views from the nearly 100 meters high tower (it is 97,2 meters high, to be fully precise). Even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe did this ascent on his famous Italian journey. While the Asinelli tower has an inclination of 2,23 meters, the only 47 meters high Torre Garisenda next to it has an inclination of 3,25 meters (at Pisa the tower has 3,9 meters with a height of 55,8 meters). The Garisenda tower was shortened at the mid of the 14th century to prevent a structural collapse. Did you know that it was mentioned in Dante Alighieris Divina Commedia?
Due Torri
Bologna
Italy
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