Pègol Tower
Pègol TowerP.za Paolo VI - Brescia BS
In the heart of Piazza Paolo VI, next to the Broletto, stands the Torre del Pegol, also known as the People’s Tower, or Market Tower.
Call it what you will, it remains one of Brescia's most impressive medieval towers: 54 metres of pure history.
THE TOWER
No one knows exactly when it was built. But it already stood on the site in the 12th century, solid and imposing. So solid that it withstood the 1222 earthquake that razed half of the city to the ground.
From the very beginning, the Pegol Tower was at the centre of Brescian civic life: in 1178 the first seat of the city government was built next to it. In 1235, the Campana Militum bell was installed to call the people to arms in the event of danger. Then came the Venetian renovations, the clock, and the new bells still housed in the belfry.
During the Ten Days of Brescia in 1849, it became a symbol of resistance: while the adults fought, it was the children who rang the bells. A gesture that became part of local legend, won the hearts of the people of Brescia, and is celebrated in the verses of Angelo Canossi.
The tower is an architectural masterpiece: four levels, from the Botticino base to the 16th-century spiral staircase by Dionisio Bolda.
After centuries of transformations and restoration, the Torre del Pegol has been open again since 2007, allowing Brescians and visitors to rediscover one of the city's oldest symbols, a guardian of history, civic memory and collective pride.
