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Le 'Due Torri'

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Tavia
Tavia
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Le due Torri

  • December 18, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Tavia from New York, New York
Le due Torri

Look at any postcard rack in the city, and you will find many cards with the image of these two towers. They are the popular symbols of the city, even though they are only two of about 200 towers that made up the city's skyline during the Middle Ages. The Garisenda tower (c. 1120) is the leaning one (in the photos, the one on the left). If you visit, you will notice that it is supported with cables, and that it is under surveillance (as the famous leaning tower in Pisa) so it doesn't, I suppose, one day crush innocent people and nearby buildings. The other tower is called Asinelli, and has perfect posture. You can go up it to have a great view of the city (check hours of operation with the tourist office at the train station). These towers are examples of common building techniques in the Middle Ages and the day of the Italian city state. Competing families would build towers to not only demarcated and watch over their properties but also to see who could build the highest or most elaborate tower. Yes, even in the Middle Ages it was all about pissing contests and keeping up with the Balducci's.
If you arrive at the towers on foot (which, ultimately you will have to as they are in the city's historic center) you will find at thier feet an excellent bookstore. If you enjoy going into bookstores even when you can't read the language, this is a great store to do it in as it is busy, the clientele is quite goodlooking, and it's easy to see which American authors are readily translated here as well as to see which Italian authors are bestsellers in their native country.

From journal Una gita a Bologna

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