"The reasons for the construction of so many towers are not clear. One hypothesis is that the richest families used them for offensive/defensive purposes during the period of the investiture Controversy"
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025
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My guess is it was about who has the longest one.
That was actually one of the reasons I learned. The rich families wanted to show how rich they were so they built towers. Then other rich families built their own, preferably bigger, to show that they had ~~a bigger penis~~ more money.
Are there any facts to back that up? I don't know. I heard it ~25 years ago and I don't remember the source. Though, I was in Bologna around that time so possibly from a tour or possibly from some drunk guy at a party.
Take also meant more unstable, so there was a component of an engineering challenge.
It’s not about height, it’s about girth. You need a properly wide base and taper in order to ~~please~~ house so many soldiers.
Another hypothesis is that the city was taken over by wizards.
I choose to believe this one.
Hey, just because they use magic doesn't mean they're wizards. The biggest investiture tower, Urithiru, is actually associated with paladins
So my Age of Empires build strategy was historically accurate
Clearly the work of wizards.
You laugh, but people who believe the Tartarian Empire conspiracy theory point to this as one of the things lost after the "mud floods" lol.
local superstition suggests that those who climb the Tower of Asinelli to the top will never finish their studies—bad luck for students, but good news for those who never tire of learning!
That does sound a lot like wizards
I remember going up there with a friend when we were in study trip! oh wait...
Seems like it would be a nightmare to take them down. Demolition back then must have been pretty methodical, taking it apart from the top to bottom.
Look around them. It would have to be like that today too. Too crowded.
Image isn't real
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Bologna+towers&ia=images&iax=images
Here are real images. Tell me how you can safely demolish those with explosives while guaranteeing it's not going to topple over adjacent buildings.
I'm sure the construction of towers is different from chimney stacks, but Fred Dibnah did it with a bunch of firewood and some shovels.
Towers of Bologna
Somewhere in an alternative dimension where they're not fictional, Dagwood is very confused by his sudden boner and Blondie's dinner guests are scandalized.
At least we know why they're married now.
Is this an AI image? Stop that.
I say that because some towers are leaning weirdly, and some windows are very diffused. It’s too low res to be to an “artistic renderin,” and it’s just looks messy (as an image). I’ve seen better renders of the towers of Bologna.
If it’s not AI, I’ll across out the top bir. I’m sorry I’m just super skeptical nowadays.