General view

The Torazzo is the bell tower of Cremona Cathedral. At 113 metres, it is the third tallest brickwork bell tower in the world, and it is the oldest brick structure taller than 100 m that is still standing. It was built in four phases: in the 1230s, between 1250 and 1267, and around 1284, and completed with the marble spire in 1309.

Its effect depends not only on its size but on the contrast between the simple rectangular thirteenth-century main body, with its relatively small, infrequent openings, and the wide-arched complexities of the octagonal upper storeys added in the third phase of the construction.