Montale Tower is an important and very symbolic tower that overlooks the capital city of the Republic of San Marino, the City of San Marino. Known also as the Third Tower, this tower is the smallest one among the three important towers that are also featured on the San Marino flag and coat of arms, where the other two are Cesta and Guaita Towers.
Located on the highest point of Monte Titano, Montale Tower was built in the 14th century to provide better protection against the possible invasion by the Italian Malatesta family that ruled over Rimini, a stone’s throw away from San Marino. The Malatesta family was a prominent Italian noble dynasty that ruled Rimini from 1295 until 1500, with their power base in the southern Romagna region, but they also controlled various other towns and territories in the Marche and Romagna regions of today’s Italy. These territories included Fano, Cesena, Pesaro, Fossombrone, and Cervia.
Interestingly, the Malatest family functioned as condottieri, or as the English translation would be military leaders, and, for a certain time, they acted as papal vicars, which is why the Sammariense were cautious in protecting their country, thus building the line of three fortresses. Throughout the history of Montale Tower, this important tower was a major defensive location, but over time, it was converted to serve as a prison, for which it was most likely intended to be in the first place.
Architecturally speaking, the entrance door is located some 7 meters (23 ft) above the ground, which points to the fact that it was intended to be used as a prison, since the architecture for that kind of structure at that time was done only for prisons. Inside the tower, there is a notoriously deep, 8 m (26 ft) dungeon known as the “bottom of the tower,” and with the combination of the raised entrance door, Montale Tower was meant to be a place that would be very difficult to escape from.
ADVERTISEMENT
Overall, the Montale Tower has a pentagonal floor plan, and even though it is a standalone tower as opposed to a castle-like complex, unlike the other two towers, Montale is not open to the general public, so you cannot visit it in person. Alternatively, you can get as close as possible to the structure and gaze upon it from far away, because even though it is not imposing like Cesta and Guaita towers, Montale is still considered a beautiful and somewhat quiet symbol of San Marino.
Montale Tower was restored on numerous occasions, with the most recent one occurring in 1935, which improved its look and made it more presentable. While previously it was in a state of disrepair, the Sammarinese government made sure that the tower would get a dignified look, and all visitors to the tiny republic on the Apennine Peninsula would be amazed by it.
Even though there were previous restorations that were undertaken in 1743 and 1817, the 1935 restoration was the most comprehensive because it helped to preserve its structure, including the 14th-century prison, or “bottom of the tower. All in all, a definite national pride of the Sammarinese people, the Montale Tower shall continue to attract visitors in order to see this most impressive architecture that will always be waved on the national flag.
