Walkways and Towers
Walkways and TowersWall
Walkaways
Continuing uphill we reach the spalti, or patrol walkways, that encircle all around the Fortress, linking together the towers of Nonantola, delle Donne and del Pennello. If we now see them covered and laced with small arched windows, they originally had quite a different appearance as there was no soffit, only solid Ghibelline ‘swallowtail’ battlements. Until the sixteenth century, troops defending the manor could be preemptively concentrated and deployed behind the battlements to prevent any hostile attempts at climbing, keeping the attackers at a proper distance with multiple lines of fire. The floor of the corridors shows the regular undulations that in the absence of the roof conveyed rainwater to the open eave holes in the corbels.
Walkways and TowersTower of
Nonantola
Of the walkways, the undoubtedly most striking part is the small gallery (pugiuolo) that leads to the Nonantola tower, one of the oldest in the Fortress. During the 14th century, the tower was elevated and enlarged a first time, only to be raised and fully consolidated with brick masonry in the period between 1402 and 1406.
Walkways and TowersTower of
Women
The tower derives its name from the presence within it of the cells in which, according to some accounts (Belloj), women were imprisoned.
During the restorations carried out in the past decades, fresco decorations made both in the shoulders of the windows, with shoots of leaves and pomegranates executed in free composition, and as frames and contours of the battlements, emerged.
Of the three towers, this is the only one to have a staircase inside that connects all floors of the building, from the walkways to the basement, integrating the system of vertical and horizontal connections that distinguish the building.
Walkways and TowersTower of
Brush
The Brush Tower, like the Women’s Tower, was erected ex novo in the first two decades of the 15th century. Its name derives from the presence of a watchtower garrit placed on its top, which from a distance appeared as a ‘brush’. This tower differs from the others in its pentagonal plan.