Torre Civica (Trento)
| Torre Civica | |
|---|---|
 The north and west sides of the Torre Civica with the adjoining Palazzo Pretorio |
|
| Data | |
| place | Trent |
| Construction year | 12th to 15th centuries |
| height | 41.5 m |
| Coordinates | 46 ° 4 '3 " N , 11 ° 7' 19.1" E |
The Torre Civica , also known as Torre di Piazza , is a city tower in Trento and one of the landmarks of the regional capital of Trentino .
location
The tower is located on the northeast corner of Trento Cathedral Square. Its south side borders directly on the north facade of Palazzo Pretorio , while Via Garibaldi leads past on its east side. Access today is via the Tridentine Diocesan Museum .
history
The tower was first mentioned in the 14th century as a prison tower, in which those convicted in Palazzo Pretorio served their sentences or awaited their conviction. He also had a torture chamber in which the accused were forced to confess.
The foundations of the tower rest on the remains of the Porta Veronensis , a Roman city gate from the 1st century AD. Archaeologists date its origins back to at least the 12th century. At that time it reached about half its current height, which can be partially reconstructed on the facade. In the period that followed, it was increased several times until it took on its current appearance between the 14th and 15th centuries.
As an integral part of the former bishop's residence , it already served the prince-bishops of Trento as a prison tower, even if it certainly served as a defensive tower due to the existing defense plate . As in the case of Palazzo Pretorio, the tower gradually became the property of the city over time. From the 14th century onwards, the city provided the prison guard. At the beginning of the 15th century, the bishop entrusted the city council with the operation of the 14th century tower clock and the tower bells. In 1505 the prison and the tower itself finally fell under the custody of the city.
With this takeover, the tower took on the more common name Torre Civica . In addition to its function as a prison, which it filled until 1880, it also served the city of Trento as a clock , bell and fire watch tower .
Since 1963 it has been part of the Tridentine Diocesan Museum, which uses individual rooms as exhibition space and thus made them accessible. The tower was restored between 2009 and 2011. In August 2015, fire broke out in the belfry and damaged the upper area of the tower.
description
The 41.5 meter high rectangular tower was built mostly from white rubble stones . In the lower area and at the edges, however, humpback blocks have also been installed. It has an almost square floor plan of 7.6 × 7.8 meters. The walls are about 2 meters thick at the base of the tower and decrease towards the top, in the upper area they are only about 1 meter thick.
The Torre Civica has ten floors, which were almost exclusively prison cells. Only the floor in which the clock tower and the bell chair are housed never served this purpose. The clock face of the tower clock adorns the rest of the facade of the tower with the exception of the north side. The clock from the 14th century was the first of its kind in Trento. Today's dials date from the time of the Council of Trent (1545–1563), when the tower clock was renewed for this event.
The facades on the north and east sides are characterized by a series of barred former cell windows that were built in the 15th century. Among other things, the church bell, called La Renga , which was last cast in 1789 and used to convene the council in the past, hangs in the belfry .
The Torre Civica is rounded off by the characteristic defensive plate, adorned with stepped battlements and supported on consoles . The throwing notches that were once attached under the protruding plate were locked over time.
literature
- Aldo Gorfer: I castelli del Trentino. Vol. 3: Trento e Valle dell 'Adige, Piana Rotaliana. Arti Grafiche Saturnia, Trient 1990, ISBN 978-88-85013-33-9 .
- Aldo Gorfer: Trento. Città del Concilio . Edizioni Arca, Gardolo 1995.
- Giorgia Gentilini: Torre di Piazza, Trento (poi Torre Civica) , in: Elisa Possenti, Giorgia Gentilini, Walter Landi, Michela Cunaccia (eds.): APSAT 5. Castra, castelli e domus murate. Corpus dei siti fortificati trentini tra tardo antico e basso medioevo. Schede 2. SAP Società Archeologica srl., Mantua 2013, ISBN 978-88-87115-80-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Giorgia Gentilini: Torre di Piazza, Trento (poi Torre Civica) pp. 239–240
- ^ Giorgia Gentilini: Torre di Piazza, Trento (poi Torre Civica) p. 239
- ↑ Aldo Gorfer: I Castelli del Trentino. Vol. 3 ° Trento e Valle dell 'Adige, Piana Rotaliana. P. 407
- ↑ Aldo Gorfer: Trento. Città del Concilio p. 80
- ↑ Aldo Gorfer: I Castelli del Trentino. Vol. 3 ° Trento e Valle dell 'Adige, Piana Rotaliana. Pp. 408-409
photos
North and east side on Via Garibaldi
South side
One of the prison cells
Cell door
Parts of the stairwell before the 2015 fire
Fire in the belfry in August 2015
