A circular tower overlooks Piazza Verdi, the city’s main traffic crossroads, easily identifiable by its fifteenth-century base, which contrasts with the second floor built in the twentieth century and covered in plaster.
This is the Santo Spirito Tower, one of the five towers that originally formed part of the defensive bulwarks of the “degli inforzi” section of the city walls, constructed by Giacomo Caldora in 1439 to protect the city from landward attacks. It gets its name from the nearby church of Santo Spirito, attached to the convent of the Celestine friars.
Similar to the other two remaining towers, Bassano and Diomede Del Moro, the first floor protrudes slightly, with the walls supported by a corbelled frame. The ground floor currently houses a café. Upon entering, you can still observe the wattle ceiling, made with river reeds bonded with mortar—a traditional building technique dating back to the tower’s original construction period.
Looking at the tower from the outside, one can imagine it and the surrounding walls were once more imposing. This is because the current street level of the square was raised over what was once Fosso San Sebastiano, a depression where the Angrella stream once flowed, still reaching the cliff north of the Gulf of Vasto.
Despite this, on the night of June 14, 1590, more than six hundred bandits, led by the legendary Marco Sciarra, managed to scale the tower and sack the city. This event was soon followed by Sciarra’s assault on the College of Cardinals gathered in conclave in Rome, which triggered a response from the Spanish, culminating in Sciarra’s death in 1593, marking the end of the era of Great Banditry.
After it ceased to serve a defensive purpose, the Santo Spirito tower was converted into a residence in the first half of the nineteenth century and connected to Palazzo Calabrese, one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in Vasto, designed by architect Nicola Maria Pietrocola.
Pietrocola’s skill in integrating the older structures into the new bourgeois city is evident, particularly in the alley to the right of the tower, which runs along the west side of Palazzo Calabrese. From there, you can still see the original stone walls forming the base of the building, with later brick additions. As you move upward, these additions transform into the neoclassical style of the beautiful building.
