History Homes like towers
In some places, wealthy families built their homes as tall stone towers. Each floor held one room, linked by a stair. The door was often high above the ground, and the thick walls had small windows, so a family could shelter from raids or feuding neighbors.
History Towns of towers
In the Italian town of San Gimignano, rich families competed to build the tallest towers as a sign of their power. There were once about 72; 14 still stand today, and the town's historic center is a World Heritage Site. In Bologna, the Asinelli tower, built in the 1100s, is about 97 meters tall.
In Ireland and Scotland, thousands of smaller tower houses were built in the late Middle Ages as homes for local lords.
Art In this artwork
This tower house has a blue slate cone roof and a pennant, a fairy-tale touch. Real tower houses usually had flat or pitched roofs behind battlements.
Look closer
- Find the battlements near the top.
- Look at the small arched windows. Why are they so small?
Think about it
- Would you like to live in a tower? Why or why not?
- Why might families show off by building taller?
- What do tall buildings in your city say about the people who built them?
Key words
- Tower house
- A tall fortified home.
- Feud
- A long quarrel between families.
- Spiral stair
- A stair that winds around a central post.
Sources
The history on this page is a short summary based on these sources:
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, "Historic Centre of San Gimignano"
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Castle" and "Motte-and-bailey"
