800 years ago, Italy had a city of skyscrapers — it's known as the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages".
So what happened to them all? 🧵
The city of Bologna may have had close to 200 of these towers in the Middle Ages. They were mostly around 80 feet tall, some over 300 feet.
Fewer than 20 still stand today, of which the 320-foot Asinelli is the tallest — so what were they for?
They were essentially medieval status symbols...
By the 13th century, Bologna was one Europe's most populated cities. It was a thriving commercial center and home of the Western world's oldest university.
But violence was brewing...
There was an ongoing power struggle between two factions: the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
Bologna became a city of noble families (of opposing factions) vying for status and power — often violently.
So families needed defensive structures, but without the space to build castles, they built upwards.
And towers became popular because the taller you built, the greater the status you earned. The wealthy of Bologna got into a contest of who could build highest.
It wasn't just Bologna. San Gimignano retains its impressive skyline, and surviving towers are dotted around Italy's other medieval cities.
But Bologna had the most impressive, most dense, cityscape of all. These images we have are from a model built by a researcher over a century ago, who claimed there were as many as 194 towers at its peak.
Here's a photo from 1965 — imagine how it looked when towers filled the entire vista. It would've been one of the greatest sights of the medieval world...
What happened to Bologna's skyline?
We don't really know, but it's believed towers fell out of fashion with the aristocracy. By the time of the Renaissance, wealthy families were into building great palaces instead...
It's likely the city authorities had enough. They were often unstable, and symbolized a violent society of warring factions.
Sometimes they were demolished in punishment: a nobleman guilty of murder had his razed, and rubble lay there to mark his shame.
Earthquakes probably toppled some. We know they leaned perilously in Dante's time because he mentioned one in his Divine Comedy (1321):
"As when one sees the Garisenda tower from underneath its leaning side, and then a cloud passes over and it seems to lean the more."
You can still see Garisenda today, and the taller Asinelli looming over it — but you might not have long.
The Garisenda is under constant monitoring and reinforcement to save it from toppling. There may soon be nothing left of Bologna's lofty past...
I go deeper in my free newsletter — do NOT miss it!
Over 46,000 read it: history, art and culture 👇
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800 years ago, Italy had a city of skyscrapers — it's known as the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages".
So what happened to them all? 🧵 The city of Bologna may have had close to 200 of these towers in the Middle Ages. They were mostly around 80 feet tall, some over 300 feet. Fewer than 20 still stand today, of which the 320-foot Asinelli is the tallest — so what were they for?
They were essentially medieval status symbols... By the 13th century, Bologna was one Europe's most populated cities. It was a thriving commercial center and home of the Western world's oldest university.
But violence was brewing... There was an ongoing power struggle between two factions: the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire.
Bologna became a city of noble families (of opposing factions) vying for status and power — often violently. So families needed defensive structures, but without the space to build castles, they built upwards.
And towers became popular because the taller you built, the greater the status you earned. The wealthy of Bologna got into a contest of who could build highest. It wasn't just Bologna. San Gimignano retains its impressive skyline, and surviving towers are dotted around Italy's other medieval cities. But Bologna had the most impressive, most dense, cityscape of all. These images we have are from a model built by a researcher over a century ago, who claimed there were as many as 194 towers at its peak. Here's a photo from 1965 — imagine how it looked when towers filled the entire vista. It would've been one of the greatest sights of the medieval world... What happened to Bologna's skyline?
We don't really know, but it's believed towers fell out of fashion with the aristocracy. By the time of the Renaissance, wealthy families were into building great palaces instead... It's likely the city authorities had enough. They were often unstable, and symbolized a violent society of warring factions.
Sometimes they were demolished in punishment: a nobleman guilty of murder had his razed, and rubble lay there to mark his shame. Earthquakes probably toppled some. We know they leaned perilously in Dante's time because he mentioned one in his Divine Comedy (1321):
"As when one sees the Garisenda tower from underneath its leaning side, and then a cloud passes over and it seems to lean the more." You can still see Garisenda today, and the taller Asinelli looming over it — but you might not have long.
The Garisenda is under constant monitoring and reinforcement to save it from toppling. There may soon be nothing left of Bologna's lofty past... I go deeper in my free newsletter — do NOT miss it!
Over 46,000 read it: history, art and culture 👇
https://t.co/P8GQIdPyIg
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