In the Middle Ages, the Italian City of Bologna Had Over 100 Skyscraper-Like Towers

"Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Bologna was densely packed with tall, defensive stone towers, some reaching up to 97 meters. These towers were complemented by fortified gateways known as torresotti, remnants of the city's 12th-century walls, which have mostly vanished. Constructing a tower, even with serf labor, was a slow process, often taking three to ten years for a 60-meter structure."

"The sheer number of towers once crowding Bologna has long been debated, with early estimates suggesting up to 180. This figure came from Count Giovanni Gozzadini, a 19th-century historian who analyzed civic archives to elevate Bologna's historical prestige. Later scholars questioned his methods, noting that duplicate references in legal documents may have inflated the count, revising the total to between 80 and 100 towers."

Medieval Bologna contained numerous tall stone towers and associated torresotti gateways, many of which have since disappeared. Towers reached heights up to 97 meters and rested on deep square foundations reinforced with poles. Walls employed "a sacco" masonry, with a thick inner layer and a thinner outer shell filled with stones and mortar, and openings were left for scaffolding and wooden additions. Construction was slow, often taking three to ten years for a 60-meter tower. Nineteenth-century estimates by Count Giovanni Gozzadini suggested up to 180 towers, but later scholarship revised totals to 80–100. Fewer than twenty towers survive today, including Asinelli and Garisenda.

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