Tower sights in Lombardy & The Lakes
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A
Torre Velasca
Studio BBPR’s 1958 skyscraper outdoes ‘80s Memphis in the post-modern quoting stakes. The top-heavy tower camply tilts at Castello Sforzesco and the Duomo’s lovely buttresses. Slightly sinister, ever so sci-fi and cleverly maximising use of available footprint, it’s Lombard to the core. Sadly, apart from the foyer, it’s currently as unbreachable as the medieval fortresses it emulates.
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B
Pirelli Skyscraper
The upstart that broke the rules and outgrew the Madonnina atop the Duomo is widely admired for its fine bone structure: glass skin pulled tautly over a carefully calibrated, reinforced concrete base. Lead architect Gió Ponti's landmark has not only stood the test of time for 50 years, but even withstood an accidental plane crash into the building in 2002.
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C
Torre della Gabbia
Enter Piazza Sordello from the south and on your left you have the grand house of the Gonzagas' predecessors, the Bonacolsi clan. Hapless prisoners used to be dangled in a cage from the tower, aptly called the Torre della Gabbia - Cage Tower.
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D
Torrazzo
The 11m-tall torrazzo, which translates appropriately to something like ‘great, fat tower’, sports a giant zodiacal clock and is connected to the cathedral by a Renaissance loggia.
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E
Torre Branca
Torre Branca is a 108m-tall steel tower raised in 1933, from the top of which you have a wonderful, bird’s-eye view of the city.
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F
Watchtowers
More than 100 medieval watchtowers once enveloped the old town; the trio of watchtowers on Piazza di Leonardo da Vinci is all that remains today.
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G
Torre dell'Orologio
The Torre dell'Orologio, with its exquisite astrological timepiece, is modelled on the one in Venice's Piazza San Marco.
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H
Torre Mirabella
Torre Mirabella, the main round tower, was built by the Viscontis in the 13th century.
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