The rescue of a unique falling tower in Bologna was estimated at tens of millions of euros

It will take ten years to repair the medieval “skyscraper”

Saving the “sister in misfortune” of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Bologna will take at least 10 years and require 20 million euros, says the mayor of the Italian city. Matteo Lepore compares the project to save the 12th century Garisenda Tower from collapse with the 10-year effort to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Work to prevent the collapse of a falling medieval tower in the center of the northern Italian city of Bologna will cost 20 million euros ($21.5 million) and take at least 10 years, its mayor said.

According to The Guardian, last weekend the city unveiled a €4.3m (£3.7m) project to strengthen the Garisenda Tower, one of two city towers that overlook Bologna’s city center and have inspired artists and poets for centuries. and serving as an observation point during the conflicts of the historical past.

Like the more famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Tower of Bologna leaned over the centuries as the ground on which it was built subsided shortly after its construction. The area around the ancient structure was cordoned off last month amid growing concerns from experts about the risk of collapse.

The Garisenda is tilted by 4 degrees, compared to the 3.9 degrees by which Italy’s more famous Leaning Tower of Pisa tilts, The Guardian writes.

“I think we will spend at least 20 million euros, maybe more” to restore and strengthen the tower, the ANSA news agency quoted Mayor Matteo Lepore as saying at a press conference at Bologna City Hall.

“The Leaning Tower of Pisa required 10 years of intervention and restoration project. We have no reason to say that it will take us less time,” he predicts.

As The Guardian reminds, the 12th-century Garisenda is one of two towers in Bologna, 48 meters high, standing next to the taller Asinelli Tower (97 meters). The beloved landmark is mentioned several times in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and The Rime, and Charles Dickens wrote about it in his Pictures from Italy. Garisenda is also mentioned in Goethe’s “Travels in Italy”.

Italy’s Civil Protection Agency has issued a yellow alert for the area around the two towers, meaning it is under surveillance but is not considered to pose an immediate threat to public safety. Two higher alarm levels are possible: “orange” and “red”.

Mayor Lepore said in a debate earlier this month that the Garisenda Tower has tilted since it was built “and has been causing concern ever since.” It received further damage during the Middle Ages when ironworks and baking ovens were built inside.

“We have inherited a situation that has caused this disease for centuries,” said the head of Bologna. The mayor asked the government to include the towers on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Work to strengthen both towers has been ongoing since the 1990s, writes The Guardian. Preliminary work on the Garisenda Tower will include creating a containment zone to prevent any damage to nearby structures or harm to passersby from a “possible collapse,” the city said in a statement. Video cameras will monitor the object.

The Garisenda and Asinelli towers are named after rival families who are believed to have built them to compete for power and wealth, and are located where the former entrance to the city was.