I can’t explain the fascination I have for this tower. From the very first time I came here, I’ve just been drawn to it for some reason. Tribal memory perhaps, who knows… All I know is that I had this compulsion to take photos of it. I don’t know how many I took of it from the road, but I couldn’t help myself.
Curious, I asked some of the local people what it was, and no one knew for sure. They’d been driving past it for years, but I guess it just was another piece of the landscape for them. So, I embarked on a search to try and discover what it was. Not knowing exactly what town it belonged too made it difficult, but I kept trying. Finally I saw a little dot on a map – one of those historical markers – that said “Torre della Fara”. So, I decided to look that up and hit the nail right on the head. I also found it listed under Torre la Fara. It’s part of the town of Celenza sul Trigno.
Still, I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of information to be found on it. Basically I learned that it is an example of a lookout tower that was built during the Lombard era. They told me it was cylindrical and in stone (that much I could tell by looking at it). 
Here they alerted the population with fires lit at the top of the tower during the nighttime hours and with smoke signals during the day.
I was dying to get a closer look at it, but it didn’t seem to have an access road. Finally, we took a ride down the road and found a way in through the tall grass. (Boy am I glad they don’t have chiggers in Italy!) Unfortunately, there’s a huge hole in the side of it and it looks pretty run down. But, I was able to get some good pictures.
Today it should be called Tower of the birds because it’s now inhabited by an enormous flock of them. I went inside to take a picture looking up and was afraid that something would land on my head.
I often wonder why it’s just left in ruin like that although I don’t know what else they could do with it. Make it into a tourist attraction would be the only choice, but I guess there’s really not enough to it – just the tower in the middle of a field. Whatever happens to it, I still find it fascinating.
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