CARRARESE TOWER
The tower can be visited with a guided tour by CTG Saccisica by reservation, or during special openings during events.
The brick keep is built on a high stone plinth. The almost total lack of holes and decorative elements give it a severe appearance that denounces its original defensive function. The row of slight blind trefoil arches, interrupted by the protrusion of pilasters, is almost disproportionate to the importance of the building. The homogeneity of the terracotta walls is interrupted on the side facing Piazza Incoronata by the presence of stone bas-reliefs: at the top a series of three, only vaguely recognizable, representing St. Martin giving his cloak to the poor man (the emblem of the Piovese Community), the coat of arms with the Lion of St. Mark (a well-known symbol of the Serenissima), and the symbol of one of the Podestà of Piove.
Climbing to the top of the tower, which, recently restored, should in the fairly near future become the site of a permanent exhibition on fortified towns and the urban development of Piove, one can enjoy the panorama of the town and the surrounding area. The fortification of Piove was begun by the Bishop, Count of Piove di Sacco, Gauslino, in the second half of the 10th century; it was a defensive system that took advantage of the area's characteristic wealth of water. The wall was reinforced by Ansedisio, but the most significant intervention was that carried out by Francesco da Carrara.
All that remains today of this entire defensive complex are a few traces of the double rampart otherwise reduced to a moat; the beautiful towers disappeared one by one with the nineteenth-century destructions.
