The Bassano Tower, rising twenty meters above the main city square, is named after the Bassano family. This family arrived in Vasto from the Republic of Venice in the previous century, built the tower in the seventeenth century, and made it their residence for nearly two centuries.
Today, the tower features a shop on the ground floor and three additional floors, each marked by a window on the western side facing the square. At the top, a protruding circular crown, supported by brick corbels, adds a majestic and distinctive touch to the cityscape.
A closer look reveals that the tower’s base predates its upper structure and is contemporary with two other surviving towers, Santo Spirito and Diomede del Moro. These three are the last remnants of the original five towers that once formed Vasto’s defensive walls, known as the “inforcement” walls.
The original tower, built by Giacomo Caldora in 1439 as part of the new city walls, extended only to the frame of corbels, which can still be seen just below the first-floor window. It was topped by a brick parapet, similar to the other twin towers in the circle.
Although the tower now overlooks the main city square, it’s worth noting that until two centuries ago, its western side faced the “Castle Esplanade,” an area just outside the city walls.
In February 1799, Napoleon’s troops used the Bassano tower’s base for executions of the Sanfedists, who had previously suppressed the Republic created by the Jacobins of Vasto.
In response, an aedicule at the tower’s base, now lost, housed a painting of the Madonna, created by the families of the condemned. Following the return of the Bourbons in 1814, the city’s telegraph station operated from the tower for around 25 years.
During the first half of the 20th century, the Bassano Tower was used as a residence and was even fitted with two balconies. However, a restoration at the end of the century removed these additions, restoring the tower’s original seventeenth-century appearance while maintaining its status as private property and a civil residence.
