Torre degli Embriaci: The Tallest Medieval Tower in Genoa's Historic Centre

The Torre degli Embriaci is a 41-metre tall crusader tower located in the oldest area of Genoa's historic centre. It is one of the tallest surviving medieval towers in Genoa, with a unique triple row of hanging arches at the top. The tower is linked to the figure of Guglielmo Embriaco, a Genoese patrician who distinguished himself in the Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, together with the fleet of his brother Primo di Castello. It is the only tower in today’s historic centre saved from the 1196 edict that ordered private towers to be cut to 80 palms (~20 metres) to stop the “height competition” between noble families. The Torre degli Embriaci was 165 palms (~41 metres) tall and obtained special permission not to be reduced.

Property passed through the centuries from Embriaco → Cattaneo → Brignole-Sale, and is open to the public since the 2023–2024 restoration with guided visits.

To understand the Torre degli Embriaci, it is important to recall what medieval private towers were. In Italian cities between the 11th and 13th centuries, the great noble families built residential-defensive towers within their own residences. The towers had multiple functions: defence in case of attack by rival families, storeroom for valuable goods, and symbol of the family’s power (the taller the tower, the more powerful the family was considered).

The Torre degli Embriaci is the most important of the exceptions. The Embriaco family had in fact contributed decisively to the First Crusade (1096–1099): Guglielmo Embriaco and his brother Primo di Castello had led the Genoese fleet that reached the Holy Land, and Guglielmo particularly distinguished himself in the conquest of Jerusalem of 15 July 1099 – the central event of the Crusade, of enormous symbolic importance for all European Christianity.

In recognition of these merits, the Republic granted the Embriaco family special permission to maintain their tower at its original height: 165 palms (~41 metres), more than double the standard height imposed. The Torre degli Embriaci thus became the only tower in the Genoese historic centre to preserve its original medieval height, and is today a rare surviving example of the typology of 12th-century Genoese patrician tower-houses.

The Torre degli Embriaci is in a dense node of medieval POIs. A very few minutes on foot: Santa Maria di Castello (3 minutes, Romanesque-Dominican complex), San Donato (5 minutes, Romanesque church with octagonal bell tower), Piazza delle Erbe (5 minutes, nightlife).

For those wanting a medieval-and-crusader Genoa itinerary: Torre degli Embriaci (memory of the First Crusade) → Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè (pilgrims’ hostel for the Holy Land) → Santa Maria di Castello (consecrated by a Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1237) → Galata Maritime Museum (the Genoese maritime epic). Three hours of walking with five centuries of history.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons