Torre della Ghirlandina
Modena’s skyline has one clear point of focus: the Torre della Ghirlandina. The cathedral bell tower stands 86.12 metres tall, square at the base and octagonal near the top, where a marble balustrade and cascading garlands give it the name ‘little garland’. With the cathedral and Piazza Grande, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Begun around 1130 as the Torre di San Geminiano, it followed the design of Lanfranco. Builders from Campione added a fifth story by 1179 and a sixth from 1261. The octagonal spire came in the following century, from Arrigo da Campione, who adjusted the tower to the new Gothic taste. A golden sphere was placed on top in 1319.
Inside, the floors do not match the outer levels. The Sala della Secchia rapita, once the municipality’s treasury and archive, is decorated like a casket with graphic and plant ornaments and heraldic fur. Its name refers to a bucket stolen from Bologna during the Battle of Zappolino in 1325, later made famous by Modena’s poet Alessandro Tassoni. Higher up, the tower opens into a long staircase; on roughly the fifth floor, the Stanza dei Torresani has carved Romanesque capitals, including figures of two crowned musicians and a scene of three judges.
On the north side, the small Piazza Torre opens onto Via Emilia. Three plaques carry photographs of Modena partisans who fell fighting fascism; above them is a 19th-century inscription, and in front stands a statue of Tassoni, sculpted by Alessandro Cavazza and erected in 1860. Four bells are tuned in the Bolognese style; because of the tower’s slope they ring in the tirabattaglio manner. The 2007–2011 restoration wrapped the tower in a screen by Mimmo Paladino, a decision that puzzled much of the town. The garlanded spire still rewards the slow upward look.
Modena’s skyline finds its quiet exclamation in the Ghirlandina. The cathedral bell tower rises 86.12 metres, square at the base and octagonal near the top. A marble balustrade runs around the octagonal tented roof, with pinnacle-like finials at the corners, each decorated on two sides with cascading garlands. Those garlands gave the tower its name. Since 1997, the cathedral, the tower, and Piazza Grande have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The tower began as the Torre di San Geminiano, built around 1130 with the cathedral to a design by Lanfranco. Four stories stood on a square base. Builders from Campione took over in 1167, added a fifth story by 1179, and from 1261 a sixth. In the next century came the octagonal spire, designed by Arrigo da Campione, who turned the tower toward the Gothic style. Part of the motive was rivalry with Bologna. A golden sphere was placed on top in 1319, and the tower became the symbol of Modena.
Inside, the outer levels do not match the interior. Near the first outer stringcourse sits the Sala della Secchia rapita, used from the 14th century as the municipality’s treasury and archive. Documents of the community and relics of saints were safely kept there. The room is painted like a casket, with graphic and plant ornaments and heraldic fur. Its name comes from a bucket stolen from a fountain in Bologna during the Battle of Zappolino in 1325. The bucket was kept as a war trophy, and Modena’s poet Alessandro Tassoni made it famous in verse.
Above the hall, the tower opens into a long interior void with a staircase running along the walls. On roughly the fifth floor lies the Stanza dei Torresani. Its Romanesque capitals are worth the climb: one shows two crowned figures playing instruments among dancers; another shows three judges, the first corrupt, the second good, and the third wicked with Lucifer nearby. The other capitals are purely decorative.
On the north side, the small Piazza Torre opens onto Via Emilia. Three memorial plaques show photographs of Modena partisans who fell fighting fascism. A 19th-century inscription sits above, and in front stands the statue of Alessandro Tassoni by Alessandro Cavazza, erected in 1860. The poet’s wit is caught in the statue’s pose.
Four bells are tuned in the Bolognese major manner: D-flat, F, A-flat, with an E-flat reinforcement. The larger bells date from 1639, by Giovanni Battista and Anchise Censori; the smaller from 1988, by De Poli. Because of the tower’s slope they ring in the tirabattaglio manner, and the last full ringing was in 1945, for the liberation of Modena.
At the end of the 19th century, the upper pyramid was repaired, and in 1893 the tower was covered in Verona marble; the work was completed in 1897. The recent restoration began in December 2007 and lasted until September 2011. The scaffolding was hidden behind a screen by Mimmo Paladino, an artistic choice that caused perplexity for its cost and concept.
In 1938, publisher Angelo Fortunato Formiggini fell from the tower. Indro Montanelli and Mario Cervi would later call his death the highest and most tragic protest against the persecution of Jews under Italy’s racial laws. The Ghirlandina, then, is more than a skyline. It holds Modena’s public memory, adorned and unpolished.
