Torre di Gombito

Tower in Bergamo

The Torre del Gombito is located in the upper part of the city of Bergamo , at the intersection of the homonymous street, via San Lorenzo and via Mario Lupo, the most central and important crossroads of the ancient city.

History of Torre di Gombito

The tower takes its name from the Latin compitum , which means crossroads or crossroads , in the Bergamo dialect it takes the meaning of elbow , from this it follows that the tower was the crossroads of the different road axes of the city of the Roman period the cardo and the decumanus . It was built in the twelfth century and is the highest in the city, it will never take the name of the families who became owners of it over the centuries.

She was the protagonist of the struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines of Bergamo, the former in favor of the Pope and the latter of the Emperor represented by the Suardi families, for the Ghibellines as opposed to the Rivola, owners of the tower and of the Guelph faction, and in the thirteenth century also owners of the mint of Bergamo. During the Middle Ages there were more than thirty towers owned by noble families. This controversy became bitter when in 1206 the clashes led to the fire of the tower itself.

In 1263 , when the tower was set on fire by the Suardi and then rebuilt, Bartolomeo del Zoppo was the owner with the Rivola family, and in 1314, his son Giorgio , a member of the city council, which due to his active belonging to the Guelph faction, had to flee and ask for hospitality in the Ginami Castle of the Buccelleni di Gromo family.

The tower maintained its military and defensive characteristics until 1500 when leases for commercial use are documented. Captain Giovanni Da Lezze in his report of 1596 Description of Bergamo and its territory , appoints it as the tower of the hostaria del Gombedo.
It returned to having the military characteristic in 1849 during the Austrian occupation, the rioters from the top of the tower fired at the Rocca which was the Austrian garrison, which threatened its demolition.

The tower was donated to the municipality in 1877 by Giovanni Gout Giovanni Arioli and Alessandro Agliardi, and since 2010, after careful maintenance, it has been open to the public for a visit inside. After climbing 263 steps you can enjoy the view from the highest terrace in Bergamo .

Description of Torre di Gombito

The thirteenth- century tower , is in excellent condition, has a height of51.60 m, which originally were64 m , a part of it was demolished in the 19th century because it was considered unsafe. Built in blocks of sandstone, in Romanesque style, it formed a single complex with the adjacent house, which has Gothic modifications of a later period; the two units communicated with a single access, now walled up, which was placed eight meters above the ground. It has very few openings and cracks, typical characteristics of medieval defensive constructions. The openings for the commercial activities on the ground floor were carried out in the 15th century, while the two stone corbels that protrude on the west wall at a height of six meters, are the remains of an open portico for a further workshop, it is in fact divided into two owners in 1555 , by Paolo Zoppo, and by Barbara Albrici.

When the tower was donated to the municipality it was in a situation of great neglect, the stairs and internal landings had been destroyed during the revolutionary uprisings, when the Austrians threatened its destruction. The first restorations were made in 1892 with the reconstruction of the internal parts, and subsequently in 1913 and 1915 . From the report of the architect Sandro Angelini, it appears that the tower was built with great skill, not only in its external part, but more in the internal one, with the gradual tapering of the walls, and the stone steps in its terminal part of the same thickness. of the wall.

The Torre di Gombito appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Bergamo!

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Visiting Torre di Gombito

Hours:

Visits must be reserved in advance at the tourist office, which is at the base of the tower, and leave at 10am, 10.45am, 11.30am, 2.30pm, 3.15pm and 4pm on Mondays.

Address: Torre del Gombito, Bergamo, Province of Bergamo, Italy

Duration: 20 minutes