The Medieval Towers of Alba historical timeline

The 14th and 15th centuries. The towers of Alba were all built in these two centuries. They gave the town the name it is still known by: the città delle cento torri.

What happened afterwards is the real history. Few remain. Of those that do, many were lowered to the level of the roofs, and others were incorporated into the buildings that grew around them. A tower is an expensive thing to maintain and a conspicuous thing to own, and the record of Alba is that most of them were quietly reduced rather than knocked down.

The survivors cluster. The best preserved are between piazza Risorgimento and via Cavour — the medieval core, where via Cavour still conserves a typically medieval layout.

Individual cases. The Torre di Casa Chiarlone in via Calissano is now lowered almost to the adjacent roofs, keeping a base at street level and an 18th-century wooden door — the 18th century furnishing a 14th-century stump. Palazzo Marro on piazza San Giovanni is counted among the hundred towers even though it reads as a palace.

The street itself changed. The Loggia dei Mercanti on via Cavour now rests a little below the level of the road, with smaller arcades visible in the basement: the ground around medieval Alba has come up.

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