torre del mangia

Looming 102 meters over the Piazza del Campo, the elegant, sleek tower to the Palazzo Pubblico is the third tallest in all of Italy. Built from red brick, as a symbol of its affinity to the “commoner” the tower is 87 meters tall of brick and the remaining is a white travertine, most probably to make it visually more prominent. Siena was determined to give the church and the civic authority the same “power” and reverence, so when building the tower which would eventually become the Tower of Mangia and the cathedral bell tower, there were to be of the same height as the cathedral to show that they are equal powers. In reality the bell tower of the Duomo of Siena is only 77 meters.
Constructed between 1325 and 1348, the architectural design of the tower is attributed to Muccio and Francesco Di Rinaldo, brothers from Perugia. The summit of the tower, in white travertine - containing the bell, was designed by another architect, possibly Lippo Memmi, noted as the brother-in-law to Simone Martini who painted the Maestà which takes up the whole north wall of the Sala del Mappamondo or Sala del Consiglio in the Palazzo Pubblico.
Legend tells that the tower got its name from its first bell ringer, the man who would climb the steps at the designated time (all 400 of them) and ring the bell for the town’s people. Giovanni di Balduccio, who was nicknamed Mangiaguadagni, was commissioned to ring the hours in 1347 and he has since lived on in history, giving the tower its name. Apparently, the reference mangia (coming from the Italian word mangiare, to eat) refers to his well known habit of "eating through his earnings."