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BOLOGNA

Is one of Bologna’s ‘twin towers’ at risk of collapsing?

Bologna’s Garisenda tower and the area around it was closed to the public over the weekend after sensors detected unusual movement and officials said it was in a "worrying" condition. So how bad do things look and what's being done to save it?

Published: 23 October 2023 15:53 CEST
Is one of Bologna’s ‘twin towers’ at risk of collapsing?
The Garisenda tower (pictured from above), along with the 97-metre Asinelli, is one of Bologna's most recognisable symbols. Photo by Lucian Alexe on Unsplash

Scientific experts at the University of Bologna were working on Monday to verify data from the sensors, which they said appeared to show “anomalous oscillations”, and nearby roads had been closed as a precaution in the meantime, reported the local edition of newspaper La Repubblica.

Built between between 1109 and 1119, the Garisenda tower, along with the 97-metre Asinelli, is one of the northern Italian city’s most recognisable symbols 

Together they’re often referred to as the ‘twin towers’, despite their differences, and they are two of 20 surviving examples of countless towers built in the area by medieval aristocratic families competing to display their wealth.

It’s not always noticeable to observers, but today the 48-metre Garisenda tower is increasingly leaning as its foundations weaken.

Garisenda is in fact the the tallest leaning brick tower in the world, according to studies (the Tower of Pisa is not made of brick).

Photo by Bianca Ackermann on Unsplash

It has been under close observation for months after ever more frequent movement was detected, which experts say is because of its age and notoriously weak foundations from the 1100s.

The base of the tower, built from mortar, terracotta bricks and river stones, was reinforced with injections of mortar in 2022, and steel bands were placed around it in 2019, but this doesn’t appear to have resolved the problem.

READ ALSO: Italy receives UNESCO site record as Bologna’s porticoes are added to World Heritage list

Italian Culture Undersecretary Lucia Borgonzoni told newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale on Monday that the scientific data from the tower in recent days was “concerning.”

“Perhaps there has been an underestimation of the situation by the municipal scientific committee that is in charge of the tower’s conservation,” she said.

She said the government would fund work to shore up the tower and make it safer, using some five million euros allocated under Italy’s EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

“The government has moved to save the iconic Bologna tower after the city council wasted time,” she claimed.

Bologna’s mayor Matteo Lepore later told reporters there was no “imminent” risk of the tower collapsing.

“The tower has swayed and moved for centuries,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said the city would do “everything” it could to safeguard the tower, suggesting a potential ban on buses driving past it.

The tower has been under observation by scientific experts at the University of Bologna since 2009.

Its stability has been a cause for concern for a lot longer, though: in 1300 it was shortened by ten metres because of fears it could collapse.

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ITALIAN HISTORY

‘Treasure chest’: New banquet hall frescoes unearthed in Pompeii excavation

A black-walled banqueting hall decorated with scenes from Greek mythology, where ancient Romans feasted by candlelight, has been unearthed in Pompeii, the archaeological park said Thursday.

Published: 11 April 2024 14:51 CEST
'Treasure chest': New banquet hall frescoes unearthed in Pompeii excavation

The exceptionally well-preserved frescoes show the god Apollo attempting to seduce Trojan priestess Cassandra, and Helen of Troy meeting Paris, an encounter which would lead to war.

“The mythical couples were starting points for talking about the past and life,” Pompeii director Gabriel Zuchtreigel said in a statement.

“The walls were black to prevent the smoke from the lamps on the walls from being seen,” he said.

“Here they gathered to feast after sunset, the flickering light of the lamps made the images seem to move, especially after a few glasses of good Campania wine,” said Zuchtreigel, referring to the southern Italian region.

READ ALSO: Ancient Roman home with ‘unparalleled’ mosaic found near Colosseum

Frescoes in a banqueting room recently unearthed in Pompeii. Photo by Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP.

Pompeii was devastated when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago in 79 AD.

The ash and rock helped preserve many buildings almost in their original state, as well as forming eery shapes around the curled-up corpses of victims of the disaster, thought to number around 3,000.

The hall, with its nearly intact white mosaic floor, was discovered during an excavation which has also uncovered a bakery, a laundry and houses with sumptuous frescoed living rooms.

READ ALSO: Water returns to Rome’s ancient Caracalla Baths in reflecting pool

‘Treasure chest’

“Pompeii is truly a treasure chest that never ceases to surprise us and arouse amazement because, every time we dig, we find something beautiful and significant,” Culture Minister Gennaro Sanguiliano said.

The spacious hall shows “the high standard of living” in the domus, where building works had been under way when the volcano erupted, Pompeii said.

Newly discovered frescoes depict mythological characters Helen and Paris. Photo by Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP.

It said the fresco themes appear to be heroism and destiny, with the relationship between individuals and fate embodied by Cassandra, who is cursed by Apollo for rejecting him, so that she can foresee the future but is believed by no-one.

“The frequent presence of mythological figures on frescoes in the reception rooms of Roman houses had precisely the social function of entertaining guests and guests, providing subjects for conversation and reflection on the meaning of existence,” the park statement said.

The banqueting hall – which measures some 15 metres by six metres (50 feet by 20 feet) – opens into a courtyard which appears to be an open-air service hallway, with a long staircase leading to the first floor.

A newly unearthed fresco in a banqueting room in Pompeii. Photo by Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP.

A vast pile of construction materials was found set aside under the arches of the staircase.

“Someone had drawn in charcoal, on the rough plaster of the arches of the great staircase, two pairs of gladiators and what appears to be an enormous stylised phallus,” the statement said.

Pompeii is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the second most visited tourist site in Italy, after the Colosseum in Rome.

Archaeologists estimate that 15 to 20 percent of Pompeii’s population died in the eruption, mostly from thermal shock as a giant cloud of gases and ash covered the city.

By AFP’s Ella Ide.

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