Ravenna - Torre Civica

In Roman times Ravenna was a lagoon city surrounded by water, with at times up to 50.000 inhabitants. The second largest naval base of the Roman Empire was located here.

In the late 5th century, Roman authority in the West dissolved, and Romulus Augustulus was deposed by the general Odoacer in 476. Odoacer ruled as king of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the eastern emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth king Theoderic to reconquer Italy. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, where he withstood a three-year siege. In 493, Theoderic finally took Ravenna and supposedly killed Odoacer with his own hands. Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
Theodoric died in 526 and various Ostrogothic military leaders took the Kingdom of Italy, but none was really successful. Meanwhile, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I opposed both Ostrogoth rule. In 535 his general Belisarius invaded Italy and in 540 conquered Ravenna. After the conquest of Italy was completed in 554, Ravenna became the seat of the Byzantine government in Italy. Under Byzantine rule, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ravenna held second place in Italy after the pope and played an important role during this period.

In 751 Lombard king, Aistulf conquered Ravenna, thus ending Byzantine rule in northern Italy. King Pepin of the Franks attacked the Lombards and Ravenna gradually came under the direct authority of the Popes. Pope Adrian I authorized Charlemagne to take away anything from Ravenna that he liked, and Roman columns, mosaics, statues, and other portable items were taken north to enrich his capital of Aachen.

In 1198 Ravenna led a league of Romagna cities against the Emperor. After the war of 1218, the Traversari family was able to impose its rule in the city, but after a short period, Ravenna was returned to the Papal States in 1248 and again to the Traversari until 1275. One of the most illustrious residents of Ravenna at this time was the exiled Florentine poet Dante. In 1441 the city was annexed to the Venetian territories.

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The tower from the 12th century belonged to a prestigious family but already around 1320, became the property of the Municipality and was named Torre Civica (Civic Tower).

From that moment on throughout centuries, its bells have rung out to citizens on religious and civil occasions, as well as in the event of calamity or danger.

Over the course of many centuries of activity, the bell tower underwent numerous modifications, partly to address the stability problems that may have been caused by the oscillation of the bells.

In 2000, the highest part of the tower (about 13 meters) was removed to prevent it from collapsing. However, even today, although reduced to a height of 26 meters, the building still suffers from a slow process of subterranean landsliding, which is also responsible for its progressive inclination, earning it the name “Leaning Tower”.