Italy’s got another leaning tower —and this one could actually fall

Travel

By Alex Mitchell

They wanna Pisa the action.

There’s another leaning tower in Italy — but this time, officials are worried about a dangerous collapse.

The 12th-century catastrophe-in-waiting is the Torre Garisenda, standing tall at 148-foot on a four-degree bend — for now — at the heart of Bologna.

The locally beloved, long-standing icon was considered to be at “high risk” of tumbling down just last year, CNN reported.

The tilting troublemaker, now off-limits to onlookers, stands next to a larger, 319-foot structure called Asinelli Tower — together they are known as the two towers.

Earlier this week, city officials recruited scaffolding, pylons, and other equipment used on the Leaning Tower of Pisa to try and keep Torre Garisenda in the air, in a $20M initiative.

It will take half a year to modify the equipment for optimal use.

“This will make it possible to secure the tower,” Bologna mayor Matteo Lepore said at a press conference.

A truncated description of the plan is to run supports across the mid-section of the tower that connect to two pulley systems anchored in the ground.

Work on its masonry will come after.

“In 2025 and 2026 there will be further consolidation and restoration work, which still needs to be planned,” the mayor added.

When built in the Middle Ages, the two towers served both a military purpose for signaling and city defense along with a flaunting of prestige, according to the city’s tourism board.