Things to Do in Emilia-Romagna: Top Attractions & Tourist Spots (2024)

1. Two Towers

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Ancient PagodasHistorical Sites

salvalasilvia The Two Towers, "Le due torri", both of them leaning, are the symbol of Bologna, and probably the most prominent one. Until 1919, there were actually 5 towers in this square. Bologna was always known as the city of towers, “La Turrita”, as over the centuries, particularly between the 12th and the 13th century, the city had possibly over 200 towers.Almost all them were tall (the highest being 97 m), defensive stone towers. There are now 25 towers left without counting the hundreds of bell towers in the city.The taller one of the pair is called the Asinelli while the smaller but more leaning tower is called the Garisenda. Their names derive from the families which are traditionally credited with constructing them between 1109 and 1119.The Asinelli Tower was used by the scientists Giovanni Battista Riccioli (in 1640) and Giovanni BattistaGuglielmini (in the following century) for experiments to study the motion of heavy bodies and the earth rotation. Bologna’s towers were cited several times by Dante in the Divine Comedy and The Rhymes (a confirmation of his stay in Bologna), and by Goethe in his Italian Journey. The Two Towers have also been the subject of an eponymous poem by Giosuè Carducci as part of the Barbarian Odes. Charles Dickens wrote about the towers in his Pictures from Italy.In World War II, between 1943 and 1945, it was used as a sight post: during bombing attacks, four volunteers took post at the top to direct rescue operations to places hit by Allied bombs.Later, a RAI television relay was installed on top.Architect Minor Yamasaki is thought to have been inspired by the Towers when designing the World Trade Center during the 1960s.

Italy · Metropolitan City of Bologna