“For the better part of the Middle Ages, Rome must have had [a] hedgehog look.” Hundreds of towers changed and dominated the skyline of Rome in the Middle Ages due to the rise to power of new Roman noble families. Towers were never originally isolated like we see them today; they were always part of a larger complex, which were owned by the great Roman families, and they were a means by which the families could defend their land. One such family, the Pierleoni, fortified Tiber Island in the 11th century and in doing so, held a tower there which overlooked and commanded the Ponte Fabricius, one of the only two bridges that crossed over the Tiber before the 15th century. Since the Tiber Island was desirable land due to its hard to reach location, the tower and the fortress were used defensively as much as they were a symbol of the Pierleoni family’s power. The fortified mansion at one point also provided protection for Pope Urban II in 1088 while the anti-pope governed the Vatican. The tower later became known as the Torre dei Caetani, since the fortress fell to the Caetani family, the family of Pope Boniface VIII, by around 1300. Eventually, the Caetani family left the site due to flooding and today only the tower and part of the mansion remain of the medieval complex.