Two Towers

Fun Facts

• • As of late 2023, the Garisenda Tower is in critical condition and at risk of collapse, prompting the city of Bologna to initiate an extensive and costly stabilisation and restoration project expected to take at least 10 years and cost €20 million.
• • Both towers have captivated foreign visitors, with luminaries such as Charles Dickens chronicling them in his 'Pictures from Italy' and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe mentioning them in his 'Italian Journey'.
• • Despite surviving multiple severe lightning strikes and at least two documented large fires, the Asinelli Tower has stood for over nine centuries and even served as a sight post during World War II.
• • During the 14th century, a wooden construction at roughly 30 metres high, connected by an aerial footbridge to the Garisenda Tower, was added to the Asinelli Tower, allegedly by Giovanni Visconti, Duke of Milan, to control the central street 'Mercato di Mezzo'.
• • In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Asinelli Tower became a hub for scientific inquiry, used by prominent scientists Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Giovanni Battista Guglielmini for experiments on gravity and the Earth's rotation.
• • The Asinelli Tower was originally believed to be around 70 metres tall and was later extended to its current height of 97.2 metres, featuring an overhanging battlement of 2.2 metres.
• • The Garisenda Tower was bought by the 'Arte dei Drappieri' (Drapers' Guild) in the early 15th century, remaining its sole owner for centuries until it became municipal property in the late 19th century.
• • The Garisenda Tower was referenced multiple times by the renowned poet Dante Alighieri in his 'Divine Comedy' and 'The Rhymes,' cementing its place in literary history and confirming his stay in Bologna.
• • The Garisenda Tower, now 48 metres high with a lean of 3.2 metres, was originally much taller, approximately 60 metres, but had to be significantly lowered in the 14th century due to its increasing tilt and dangerous instability.
• • The Two Towers are named after the Asinelli and Garisenda families, who are traditionally credited with their construction between 1109 and 1119, possibly as a status symbol in a rivalry for power.