Fear in Rome: A medieval tower collapses during restoration work!
Today, during renovation work in Largo Corrado Ricci, the Torre dei Conti partially collapsed. The surrounding area was immediately evacuated and cordoned off, with vehicular and pedestrian traffic prohibited in the affected area.
Today, a portion of the tower partially collapsed. Two separate collapses occurred during restoration work on the 13th-century Torre dei Conti in Rome. In the first incident, a worker was seriously injured, while a second collapse occurred while rescue operations were underway to save a person trapped under rubble.
According to national media reports, a 64-year-old worker was seriously injured after being trapped under rubble during the first collapse and is hospitalized. Three people trapped inside the tower were rescued by an Italian firefighters’ ladder truck. While firefighters were still trying to save a person trapped under the rubble, the tower suffered a second collapse.
Firefighters involved in rescue operations during the second collapse were reportedly unharmed. Regarding the scene, Rome Mayor Lamberto Giannini stated that the risk of another collapse remains very high, stating: “One person is currently trapped, but we have evidence that he is still alive. We are making every effort to save him. This is a priority, but complex operation.” Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri also stated that the first collapse occurred due to the collapse of a buttress built in the 1930s, while the second collapse affected the internal slab. Meanwhile, the press has reported that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into negligent assault.
The Torre dei Conti is a medieval tower in Rome, located in Largo Corrado Ricci at the junction of Via Cavour and Via dei Fori Imperiali, in the Monti district. Built in the 9th century by the Conti di Anagni family, on the area occupied by the ancient Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Tellus, the tower was fortified in the following centuries, but was damaged several times by earthquakes.
The Torre dei Conti is a medieval tower in Rome, located in Largo Corrado Ricci at the junction of Via Cavour and Via dei Fori Imperiali, in the Monti district. Built in the 9th century by the Conti di Anagni family, on the area occupied by the ancient Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Tellus, the tower was fortified in the following centuries, but was damaged several times by earthquakes.
Two separate collapses occurred during restoration work on the 13th-century Torre dei Conti in Rome. In the first incident, a worker was seriously injured, while a second collapse occurred while rescue efforts were underway to save a person trapped under the rubble. Two separate collapses occurred around noon during restoration work on the 13th-century Torre dei Conti in Rome.
In 1203, expansion work was carried out on the original fortress by Pope Innocent III for his family, the Counts of Segni (hence its current name), or, according to other sources, by Richard, Count of Sora, brother of Innocent III. Construction work was completed “the year Innocent III died!” (i.e., 1216).
In the past, it was also known as the Torre Maggiore (Major Tower) due to its sheer size (its original height was probably around 50-60 meters, compared to the current 29), which even struck Francesco Petrarca, who called it “Turris illa toto orbe unica” (The Tower of the Whole World).
Over the centuries, several earthquakes struck the building: in particular, following the 1349 earthquake, the tower became uninhabitable and was abandoned until 1620, when it was rebuilt. Further earthquakes followed in 1630 and 1644. Subsequent renovations took place at the end of the seventeenth century under Pope Alexander VIII, with the construction of two reinforcing buttresses.
The opening of Via Cavour in the late 19th century and that of Via dei Fori Imperiali during the Fascist era left the tower isolated from other buildings.
In 1937, the tower was donated by Mussolini to the National Federation of the Arditi of Italy, which remained there until 1943.
In 1938, the hall of the Temple of Peace, on whose perimeter walls the tower rests, was converted into a mausoleum for the Arditi general and president of the federation, Alessandro Parisi, who died that year in a car accident. The general’s remains are still preserved in the hall, in a Roman-era sarcophagus.