Summary

Camera location	43° 47′ 11.88″ N, 10° 33′ 36.05″ E	View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap	43.786633; 10.560014

Transcribed text of sign next to the tower: Unfortunately, due to the lack of documentation we do not know when this building was built. However, in the book Architettura medievale in diocesi di Luca (Medieval Architecture in the Diocese of Luca) the author, Maria Teresa Filieri, dates its construction between the 10th and Ilth centuries by comparing the similar masonry and architecture with the bell tower of San Giusto di Compito. The tower was built in a panoramic position over the divide between the Compito Valley and the San Giusto di Compito Valley and lies next to a section, which still exists today, of an important trade and medieval pilgrimage route known as Via di San Colombano. In addition to serving as the bell tower for the adjacent ancient Church of San Pietro al Forcone, the tower had to play an important military role for the local area, acting as part of the defensive system that included the castles located on the Castello and Castellaccio hills and the fortified compounds of the churches of Sant 'Andrea di Compito and San Giovanni Batista in Pieve di Compito. The different architectural features found in the upper parts of this monument dating back to the 14th century seem to suggest that the building was damaged during one of the many wars which ravaged the surrounding area. This presumably occurred during the sacking and destruction of military structures in the Compito Valley that took place in 1313 by troops from Pisa under Uguccione della Faggiola. The population decline that occurred throughout the 15th century led to the parish of San Pietro al Forcone being transferred to the parish of Sant'Andrea di Compito. Following the reorganisation and decline of the church, the tower gradually lost its duties as a bell tower, but thanks to its strategic position it maintained an important military role. As part of the shake-up of the defensive system in the Republic of Lucca, the tower was used as a watchtower and incorporated into an extensive communication network that covered the whole of the Republic's territory. There are a few seventeenth-century maps held at the Luca State Archives which confirm this statement, along with several available documents that testify to the existence of a team of guards at the tower. The roof of the building still has a moveable iron basket that used to be filled with flammable material and lit to communicate with the city of Luca. According to local legend, the heads of executed criminals were put on display as "a warning to the people" in an iron cage fixed above the entrance door: Matraia also describes this macabre custom in his Guida della Diocesi di Luca (Guide to the Diocese of Lucca) from 1859-60. At the end of the 19th century, the tower underwent restoration work, which also repaired the damage caused by the lightning that struck the building on the night of 14 July 1714.

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