Page 143 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2024 SPAIN

pulets in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, climb the interior 498 wooden stairs to its
and you get the idea. There were probably
even star-crossed lovers playing out ro-
mances in the shadows of these spires.
In October 2023 Garisenda was discov-
ered to be teetering too much for comfort
and has been closed. This tower started to
lean soon after it was built, and in the
1300s its top was lopped off, reducing it
from 200 feet tall to the present 157 feet,
to keep it from toppling. Today it leans at a
4-degree angle, which is more than the
Tower of Pisa. The city is in the process of
raising funds to stabilize the structure,
which will take years to accomplish.
Asinelli’s tilt is a scant 1.3 degrees, and
it remains open to tourists bold enough to
top. Unlike Garisendi, Asinelli was raised in
the 1300s from its original height of 230
feet to its current 318 feet. At about this
same time a foot bridge was built connect-
ing the two towers, apparently by the Duke
of Milan, the city’s overseer, who wanted to
control rioting in the streets. Asinelli has
survived lightning strikes, fires, partial col-
lapses, and even Allied bombing raids dur-
ing World War II. Volunteers directed
rescue operations from its roof during
those raids, guiding rescuers to places
where bombs had hit.
Among the many notable landmarks
damaged by those bombing raids was the
Palace of Archiginnasio, on the Piazza
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