Bologna – Asinelli (The Two Towers)
Back to October 2011 with these photos, so the quality of the images isn’t particularly good as I used my phone.
This was when I decided to climb the Asinelli, which is one of the Two Towers (Le Due Torri Torre degli Asinell) in Bologna, the shorter and more leaning one is the Garisenda. The basic concept of these is that families would build their towers tall to show off their wealth and influence, with the Asinelli standing 97 metres in height.
This image sort of highlights what went on during my little walk up here, which I think it’s fair to say was mild panic and an inability to take clear photos. I’m not sure why I thought climbing this bloody thing was a good idea, I don’t like heights. I probably thought that there was a nice lift, not the most rickety old arrangement of stairs that I found were the only way up. However, I’d just paid €3 to climb the damn thing, so I couldn’t just go back out again.
This is not what I really wanted to see.
And it went on for what seemed like eternity.
About half-way up, there was a platformed off area where I could have a little think about the predicament I had placed myself in. Getting half-way up and going back down seemed to be a poor compromise, so I battled on up.
This was more vertical than it looks in the photos.
I was relieved to get to the top after climbing the 499 steps…. I’ve put photos of the views in another post and I admit that there were extensive views of Bologna from the top of the tower. Was the climb up there worth it? Hmmmm, probably, but I can’t say I was thrilled on the ascent (the descent was easier, but I was still glad to be back at ground level), but it is one of the city’s icons.
This review is the most recent on TripAdvisor, and sums up the difficulty of this quite well I think.
“If you are unfit or have any fear of heights or confined spaces, avoid this tower. The climb is very steep and the stair treads in many places narrow and at an angle.”
Yes, the treads were narrow and at a complete wonk. Frankly, the civil engineers on this project didn’t take as much care as I would have perhaps liked, although, to be fair, the towers are still standing. I would say that I was fortunate that the tower wasn’t particularly busy when I went, I just remember telling some English-speaking Italians at the top about how brave I’d been.
