One of those "who knew?" educations experienced during morning coffee:
Manhattan of the Middle Ages.
— Archaeo - Histories (@archeohistories) November 28, 2021
The Italian city of Bologna had 180 towers by AD 1200. The tallest, 320 (97 meters) feet high, still stands and was completed in AD 1119.#archaeohistories pic.twitter.com/vZuDcZaBjW
From Wikipedia:
Between the 12th and the 13th century, Bologna was a city full of towers. Almost all the towers were tall (the highest being 97m), defensive stone towers. Besides the towers, there are still some fortified gateways (torresotti) that correspond to the gates of the 12th-century city wall (Mura dei torresotti or Cerchia dei Mille), which itself has been almost completely destroyed. The reasons for the construction of so many towers are not clear. One hypothesis is that the richest families used them for offensive/defensive purposes during the period of the Investiture Controversy.
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