La Specola (the Torlonga tower)
Padua · Italy · Tower
The knight Sarpendone was mutilated and shut in Ezzelino's tower. A small flame is said to slide down the tower and go out in the river.
The tall tower beside the Bacchiglione in Padua was once the Torlonga, the keep of the Castelvecchio that the tyrant Ezzelino III da Romano enlarged in 1242 and turned into a prison. In the eighteenth century the tower was converted into an astronomical observatory, La Specola. The legends stay with the prisoners. The one told most often concerns Sarpendone, a brave warrior seduced by Ezzelino's wife Selvaggia; when the tyrant discovered the affair he had the man mutilated and shut in the Torlonga until he died. Paduans describe a figure in a vermilion cloak dragging itself through the cellars and dissolving into lament through the wall, and a small flame at the tower's crown that slides down and goes out in the water.
FAQ
Where is La Specola (the Torlonga tower) located?
La Specola (the Torlonga tower) is in Padua, Italy.
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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.