The Torre dei Conti still guards the base of the steep Salita del Grillo road, as it has since its construction in the early thirteenth century when it was built by the Conti Pope Innocent III. Some claim that he used church funds to build the tower,…

The Forum, resting symbolically and physically at the heart of Rome, was a key locus of power for the medieval baronial families of Rome. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it was occupied by the Frangipane family, one of the two dominant families of…

When one thinks of the Middle Ages, a few images come to mind. Knights in shining armor and princesses, but also castles and towers. And in Rome, there are a great many medieval towers. Among these is the Tor Millina, situated just west of the Piazza…

The Torre Sanguigna is a medieval tower on a corner north of the Piazza Navona. Despite the large number of towers, territory markers of noble families, that once filled Rome, it is today (in Krautheimer’s words) one of the “ill-documented and few”…

The Torre delle Milizie (“Tower of the Militia”) is a large defensive tower from medieval Rome located in Trajan's Market. Constructed between the late 1100s and the early 1200s, it was developed in the 1270s under Pandolfo della Subura, creating the…

The Torre dei Conti dominates the landscape, just as it once surpassed any other Roman tower in height and width. Named after one of the most powerful families of medieval Rome, this tower stood in the middle of a violent conflict between the Conti…

“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…

Situated near the heart of the ancient city and within the densely packed abitato, the Margani complex provides useful insights into the types of residences Roman nobles owned and controlled during the medieval period. As Richard Krautheimer tells…

One of the most dramatic architectural components of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore is its bell tower, rising up 75 m high – the tallest campanile in Rome. The tower appears very similar to the typical twelfth and thirteenth century Romanesque…