The Margani House and Tower
Title
The Margani House and Tower
Subject
Towers
Description
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 us, the edifice was constructed prior to 1305 and, in that year, occupied by the prosperous Margani family. Throughout the next two centuries the Margani built up the complex, much of which we can still visit today.
During the Margani’s residency, the complex composed of a three and four story mansion packed with residential spaces and a walled courtyard likely filled with a luscious garden. Beyond its imposing size, architectural decorations testified to this family’s status as nobility. A portico propped up by slender columns and Ionic capitals, examples of valuable Roman spolia, embellished the façade. A partial Roman cornice (band of decorative molding that projects off of a façade to frame an architectural feature) also ornamented the complex’s main entrance.
Of all the Margani mansion’s extant features, however, the brick tower is perhaps the most important. In the medieval period, the Margani tower would have been one among countless family towers looming over the Roman cityscape. Krautheimer notes that between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, towers sprang up across the abitato and disabitato as a result of a rise in city-based living and noble settlement within the Aurelian walls. In addition to profoundly altering the city’s skyline, towers played prominently into local power dynamics by demarcating zones of influence and serving as fortified spaces during armed conflicts. Though the Margani tower no longer stands at its original height, it still serves as a fruitful reminder of this remarkable urban process. As you walk throughout the modern city keep an eye out for remnants of the great family towers that dominated the Roman landscape during the medieval period, as well as the large decorated mansions and complexes that encompassed them.
During the Margani’s residency, the complex composed of a three and four story mansion packed with residential spaces and a walled courtyard likely filled with a luscious garden. Beyond its imposing size, architectural decorations testified to this family’s status as nobility. A portico propped up by slender columns and Ionic capitals, examples of valuable Roman spolia, embellished the façade. A partial Roman cornice (band of decorative molding that projects off of a façade to frame an architectural feature) also ornamented the complex’s main entrance.
Of all the Margani mansion’s extant features, however, the brick tower is perhaps the most important. In the medieval period, the Margani tower would have been one among countless family towers looming over the Roman cityscape. Krautheimer notes that between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, towers sprang up across the abitato and disabitato as a result of a rise in city-based living and noble settlement within the Aurelian walls. In addition to profoundly altering the city’s skyline, towers played prominently into local power dynamics by demarcating zones of influence and serving as fortified spaces during armed conflicts. Though the Margani tower no longer stands at its original height, it still serves as a fruitful reminder of this remarkable urban process. As you walk throughout the modern city keep an eye out for remnants of the great family towers that dominated the Roman landscape during the medieval period, as well as the large decorated mansions and complexes that encompassed them.
Abstract
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 us, the edifice was constructed prior to 1305 and, in that year, occupied by the prosperous Margani family. Throughout the next two centuries the Margani built up the complex, much of which we can still visit today.
Creator
Nate Grein (2017)
Source
Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Hong Kong: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Identifier
marganitower_2015
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Via Margana, 4, 00186 Roma RM
Description
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 us, the edifice was constructed prior to 1305 and, in that year, occupied by the prosperous Margani family. Throughout the next two centuries the Margani built up the complex, much of which we can still visit today.During the Margani’s residency, the complex composed of a three and four story mansion packed with residential spaces and a walled courtyard likely filled with a luscious garden. Beyond its imposing size, architectural decorations testified to this family’s status as nobility. A portico propped up by slender columns and Ionic capitals, examples of valuable Roman spolia, embellished the façade. A partial Roman cornice (band of decorative molding that projects off of a façade to frame an architectural feature) also ornamented the complex’s main entrance.
Of all the Margani mansion’s extant features, however, the brick tower is perhaps the most important. In the medieval period, the Margani tower would have been one among countless family towers looming over the Roman cityscape. Krautheimer notes that between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, towers sprang up across the abitato and disabitato as a result of a rise in city-based living and noble settlement within the Aurelian walls. In addition to profoundly altering the city’s skyline, towers played prominently into local power dynamics by demarcating zones of influence and serving as fortified spaces during armed conflicts. Though the Margani tower no longer stands at its original height, it still serves as a fruitful reminder of this remarkable urban process. As you walk throughout the modern city keep an eye out for remnants of the great family towers that dominated the Roman landscape during the medieval period, as well as the large decorated mansions and complexes that encompassed them.