Torre_della_Gabbia,_Mantua

Torre della Gabbia, Mantua

Torre della Gabbia, Mantua

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The Tower della Gabbia is a medieval tower located on Via Cavour #102 in Mantua, region of Lombardy, Italy.

Torre della Gabbia with iron cage at mid-height

History

The tower was built in 1281 by the Acerbi family, however, the tower takes its present name from a rectangular metal cage, erected in 1576 under Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga. The cage measured two meters long, one meter deep and high, perched about a third of the height. The cage was used to publicly expose criminals. Some documents indicate it was used to execute some prisoners, including in 1500, a Dominican friar arrested in a house of ill-repute, after giving mass despite being illiterate, as well as other crimes including murder. In 1798, the owner was instructed to destroy the cage as a symbol of tyranny, but it was retained, apparently as a curiosity.[1][2] Some sources say the tower, was built in 1302 by architect Botticella Bonacolsi.[3]

References

  1. [1]
    La patria; geografia dell' Italia: Provincia di Milano, By Gustavo Chiesi, Luigi Borsari, Giuseppe Isidoro Arneudo (1894), page 205.
  2. [2]
    The Cities of Lombardy, by Edward Hutton, page 212.
  3. [3]
    Mantova Numerizzata Ovvero Guida Numerica Alle Case Ed Agli Stabilimenti, by Vincenzo Paolo Bottoni, page 10.

45.1594°N 10.7958°E / 45.1594; 10.7958
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