http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/01/torre-guinigi-tower-with-oak-trees-on.html Torre Guinigi: The Tower with Oak Trees on the Top Saturday, January 26, 2013 The city of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy, is famous for its medieval architecture and intact city walls. Yet among all of its exquisite buildings one stands out. The Torre Guinigi or Guinigi Tower rises like an ancient beacon over the city. At the top of the 44.5 meter high tower is something of a surprise a garden containing, of all things, oak trees. High above the city this small wood has provided a haven of peace for centuries. The tower was built in the fourteenth century when there were over 250 in the city. Although that number has, over the centuries, dramatically decreased, this one has survived. It was built by the Guinigi, then the most powerful and influential family in the city. The tower represented the prestige of the family and was the largest in the city even when the economic boom of the late fourteenth century meant that towers were springing up all over Lucca. The last descendant of the family gifted the tower to the city, as well as the palace at its base. The roof garden at the top of the tower is, effectively, a walled box filled with earth. There are seven oak trees there: it is believed that they were first planted in the 14th or 15th century but that over time they have been replanted. However, the ones atop the tower at the moment are still thought to be several hundred years old. Yet even though the Guinigi’s possessed great wealth and power they were not the luckiest family in Lucca. The generation which built the tower consisted of seven brothers, three of whom died of the plague and the oldest, Lazarus, was assassinated in 1399. Paolo the youngest took over eventually even though one of his surviving brothers, Nicolau (who was the Bishop of Lucca) opposed his rise to power. Paolo would, however, reign over the family and the city until 1430. It is said that the family planted the oak trees to represent renewal and rebirth. Surely it is no accident that there were seven brothers – the exact number of trees at the tower’s pinnacle? The tallest of the trees was said to have been originally planted by Paolo. He fell from power in 1430 and was imprisoned and then executed by Francesco Sforza. A local legend has it that just before his execution all the leaves fell from the tree. The tower was certainly built to last. Started in 1384 it survived the many upheavals that Italy experienced over the centuries. The hundreds of stairs are as they were originally built (but modernized) and the last leg of the journey to the top is effectively by short ladders. Yet if you can face the prospect of the narrow and winding staircases the view from the top is outstanding. Although in terms of Italian towers the Guinigi is overshadowed by a certain edifice in Pisa, this is certainly unique in its own way. After all, how many renaissance towers are there in the world with seven oak trees at the top? ================ http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-guinigi-guinigi-tower Built of red brick and topped by several ancient Holm oaks, the 125 foot high Guinigi tower house is one of the few remaining tower houses in Lucca. It was built in or around 1384 by wealthy silk merchants, and, although no one know exactly how old the rooftop garden is, it dates back to at least 1600 when it appears in a contemporary drawing of the city. Once bristling with as many as 250 defensive tower houses, today, only about 9 remain in the ancient walled city . The towers were built during the mercenary-filled post-plague years in Italy, when Tuscany was repeatedly turned upside-down by disease, raids, and outbursts of politically charged violence. The 14th century in Italy was, as they say, Interesting Times. It made sense to have a personal defensive tower. The center of Lucca dates back to Roman times, but it found its stride during the middle ages as a crossroads of trade and a center of the silk trade. Independent since 1119, in 1314 Lucca was raided and fell under the power of a local born condottirere, or mercenary, Castruccio Castracani. Ambitious and ruthless, Castracani set his sights on conquering more land including nearby Florence, and spent the remainder of his rule making war on the neighbors (his life story was documented in detail by Machiavelli). Following his death, rule of the town fell to the Guinigi family. As in nearby Pisa, Sienna, and Florence, the wealthy landowners began building a tower onto their palace home, both as an overt manifestation of their wealth and power, but also as a defensive position and lookout when things got rough. Throughout Tuscany, the shape of crenellations on the top story often indicated the loyalty of the owner. The tower building mania became enough of an issue that many Tuscan towns established building limits on height and style of the towers. In battles, destruction of the towers - often specifically targeted properties of certain families - was common, and a blow to the pride of the victimized town thereafter. Napoleon raided Tuscany in 1805, annexed it to France, and gave Lucca to his sister Elisa in 1809. She held on to her title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany until 1 February 1814. She can be credited with the beautifully maintained outer walls and the trees planted along them. Restored and reopened in the 1980s, today the tower's rooftop garden is accessible via a climb of 230 stairs (a modern addition - the original stairs were on the outside). From the rooftop you can see the outlines of the three concentric city walls, the Roman center of town, and the few remaining other towers. Across town, the Torre della Ore (clock tower) is also open for climbing. ====================== http://www.italyguides.it/us/italy/tuscany/lucca/tower/torre-guinigi.htm Interactive 360 degree view of the garden at the top ======================== 01: Image Credit Flickr User AJansen 02: Image Credit Flickr User sidstamm 03: Image Credit Atlad Obscura website