Catalani Tower: Attraction informations
Catalani Tower, placed in vicolo dello Spirito Santo in Bologna, is 16 metres high and was built around 1200. It is very near another famous tower in the city of Bologna, the Galluzzi Tower.
Tower Catalani passes almost unobserved when walking swiftly along the narrow streets of the centre of Bologna, but it actually hides a terrible legend regarding the division of the city between Guelfi and Ghibellini.
The Catalani Tower’s legend
The events took place in the 13th century. The Catalani increased the height of their tower following the desire of a nephew, as he wanted to impress and
conquer Virginia Galluzzi’s heart, belonging to the rival
Guelfi family. The trick worked like charm and the lovers got married. Unfortunately, after the discovery of their secret marriage they were severely punished: the young man from the Catalani family was executed while his wife was forced to commit suicide.
References to the tower in Dante’s Inferno
The Catalani tower is
mentioned in some chapters of the Inferno of
Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. In the first chapter we find
Celestine V, mentioned by Dante as “who due to cowardice made the great refusal”.
Dante considers pope Celestine V as one of the
ignavi, i.e. those who did neither right nor wrong, just standing apart without engaging in politics or life. He includes Pope Celestine V amidst the condemned for his quick resignation from his papal duties just a few months after his election.
The souls of the
ignavi where forced to run without a goal, following a weather vane that moved so quickly it was impossible to follow or understand what it represented.
A member of the Catalani’s family is also mentioned in Dante’s
Hell. Called
Catalano di Guido Di Donna Ostia, captain of the Bolognese troops in the famous battle of Fossalta and deceased in Eremo di Ronzano, where he lived the last years of his life. Dante places him
among the hypocrite souls inside the 6th Bolgia of the 8th Ring of the Inferno. The punishment these souls received was having to walk squashed under heavy golden cloaks as a reminder of their double face in lifetime: trying to show to the outer world a different reality from their inner intentions.
As many other towers,
the function of Tower Catalani changed throughout the centuries until 1789, when it became part of a monastery for the Celestine Order. In fact, one of its main entrances is decorated with
a fresco depicting Pope Celestine V, founder of the monastic order that carries his name. Currently the tower is one of the seats of the
State Archive of Bologna and can be visited by appointment.
The tower is built in
Romanic style and is sturdier than other ones still standing around the city, maybe because its higher storeys were used as private quarters while the lower ones for defensive measures. The Catalani family owned other towers in the city, one almost as high as the Asinelli, but they have not survived the passing of time.
