Torre Rognosa - San Gimignano, Italy
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N 43° 28.069 E 011° 02.596
32T E 665276 N 4814795
The Rognosa Tower, also known as the clock tower or tower of the Podesta, is one of the highest and best preserved of San Gimignano.
Waymark Code: WMM7ZR
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 08/07/2014
Views: 7
"Erected around 1200, belonged to the family Gregori and the Oti. It is almost 52 meters high and is the second tallest tower in the town, after the Torre Grossa (54 m).
The name of Rognosa stems from the fact that, after the removal of the mayor, made from prison, this was seen by those who had "mange".
The tower is based almost square and is built in stone with fairly regular drafts. Just above the battlements of the old palace of the Podesta is a narrow opening that leads to an architrave covered by a roof terrace. The tower has only a small window on Piazza della Cisterna and the top floor has a roof terrace that worked from the belfry secular (call for citizenship in the case, for example, of danger, and for other reasons not related to the religious life). He later became the bell that marked the hours with his strokes. With four arches supported by solid pillars, the cell is covered by a small pyramid with red tiles.
According to a statute of 1255 it was forbidden to anyone, private citizen, to raise the tallest towers of Rognosa. The arrangement, however, was ignored by the powerful Guelph family of Salvucci, who just a few steps from here built two twin towers soon bissate from those of the rival family of Ardinghelli. Both pairs of towers were then scapitozzate and today are lower than the Rognosa."
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