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Due Torri - Bologna's Leaning Towers

Medieval Skyscrapers Since 1109

Asinelli Tower · Garisenda Tower · The Great Rescue

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🏛️ Essential Visitor Information

Piazza di Porta Ravegnana

The towers stand at the medieval crossroads

Climb Closed

The Asinelli stair is shut during the Garisenda rescue

Free to See

The piazza view costs nothing and takes your breath anyway

Since 1109

Over 900 years watching over Bologna

97.2 Meters

Italy's tallest leaning medieval tower

3.2m Lean

The Garisenda out-leans the Tower of Pisa

498 Steps

The wooden stair waiting inside the Asinelli

🏗️ Why Visit

Come even though the stair is closed. The Garisenda is being saved in plain sight with the same pylons and cables that rescued Pisa, a once-in-generations engineering spectacle wrapped around a 900-year-old tower. The Asinelli still fills the end of Via Rizzoli the way it has for eight centuries, and the photos further down this page show the view from the top, taken when the climb was open. Right now nobody gets that view, which makes the towers themselves the whole show.

🏛️ A Little History

Feuding medieval families built tower-houses as fortresses and flexes - the taller, the mightier - until the commune ordered them cut down to size. The Asinelli (97 m) and Garisenda (48 m, four-degree lean) survived as the city's emblem.

💡 Did You Know?

Dante name-checked the Garisenda in the Inferno, comparing a stooping giant to its overhang. Local superstition bars students from climbing the Asinelli before graduation - the degree, they say, will never come.

ALONG VIA RIZZOLI

Rising Over the Street

The classic first sight of the towers, framed at the end of Bologna's busiest arcaded street.

The Asinelli tower rising above buildings at the end of Via Rizzoli in Bologna. — **Up Via Rizzoli**From the shopping street the Asinelli suddenly fills the gap between the buildings, the way it has greeted travelers arriving in Bologna for eight hundred years.

Looking straight up the brick shaft of the Asinelli tower against a cloudy sky. — **At the Foot of the Towers**Stand at the base and look straight up, and the brick shaft seems to run on forever into the sky.

THE LEANING PAIR

Two Towers, One Tilt

Asinelli and Garisenda, the survivors of the dozens of towers that once bristled across medieval Bologna.

The Asinelli and leaning Garisenda towers standing together above Bologna. — **The Two Towers**Asinelli and Garisenda lean toward each other over the old city, all that remain standing tall of the many towers that once crowded medieval Bologna.

The two towers of Bologna above rooftops with a church dome under a blue sky. — **Above the Rooftops**From a nearby street the pair rise clear of the terracotta roofs, a church dome tucked in between them.

GOLDEN HOUR

Last Light on the Asinelli

At the end of the day the low sun finds the top of the tower while the street below slips into shade.

The Asinelli tower glowing orange in low evening sun above Via Rizzoli. — **Last Light on the Asinelli**At sunset the low light catches the top of the tower and turns the old brick to warm orange while the street below falls into shadow.

Via Rizzoli at dusk with people walking and the lit Asinelli tower ahead. — **Via Rizzoli at Dusk**The evening passeggiata fills the street as the tower lights up against a deepening blue sky.

FROM THE TOP

The View From the Asinelli

The reward the climb used to offer, photographed from the top when the stair was open: Bologna laid out whole, warm and red, all the way to the hills.

View over Bologna's red tile rooftops from the top of the Asinelli tower. — **Red Roofs Below**From the top of the Asinelli the whole terracotta city opens out, roof after roof running to the edge of the old center.

Bologna rooftops with a church dome and green hills seen from the tower top. — **Out to the Hills**Beyond the rooftops a church dome and the green hills south of the city rise into the summer haze.

Wide panorama of Bologna's rooftops and distant hills from the Asinelli tower. — **The City From the Asinelli**Terracotta as far as you can see, the old city holding its shape right out to the surrounding hills.

Live Prices & Availability

👀 Seeing the Towers Now

Walk the full length of Via Rizzoli toward the towers for the classic reveal
Stand at the base and look straight up the Asinelli for the vertigo shot
The rescue scaffolding on the Garisenda is history happening, not an eyesore
Check the official Bologna Welcome site for current access before planning a climb

📸 Photography Tips

Wide angle lens essential for tower shots from below
Best tower photo spot: Via Rizzoli looking back
Golden hour turns the brick warm orange while the street falls into shade
Frame both towers from across the piazza to catch the competing leans

🕐 Best Times to Visit

Early morning for the emptiest piazza and cleanest light
Sunset hour for the golden brick and the evening passeggiata
After rain for the clearest air and sharpest shadows
Weekdays to avoid weekend crowds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I climb the towers right now?

No. The Asinelli climb has been closed since the Garisenda emergency began, and the Garisenda itself has been off limits for decades because of its lean. Check the official Bologna Welcome site for current status before your trip; when the climb reopens, the 498 wooden steps are the best workout in Emilia.

What is happening to the Garisenda?

The tower is being stabilized in a major rescue operation using the pylons and cables that once saved the Leaning Tower of Pisa, an effort priced around 19 million euros with works expected to run for years. You can watch the engineering from the piazza, which is its own kind of spectacle.

Is it still worth visiting if I cannot climb?

Yes. The pair dominate the old city from street level, Via Rizzoli frames them like a stage set, and the rescue works are a rare sight in themselves. The view from the top, shown in our photos from when the climb was open, waits for the reopening.

Why does Garisenda lean more than Pisa?

Garisenda leans at about 4 degrees compared to Pisa's 3.97. The lean began during construction because of soft ground and an inadequate foundation, and the tower was shortened from 60 m to 48 m in the 14th century to keep it standing.

What was the climb like?

498 wooden steps winding up inside the walls, narrow and enclosed, with small windows along the way, and at the top the whole terracotta city out to the hills. Our summit photographs on this page are from that climb. When it reopens, moderate fitness required and not one for claustrophobia.

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