What happened to Italy's Skyscrapers?
Check out Manta Sleep here tinyurl.com/4bdyubnf and make sure to use the code Presentpast for 10% off your order!
Join us in New York on the 20th of June! thedispatch-nyc.eventbrite.com/
And check out Lorenzo's other work here! lancaster.academia.edu/Lorenz...
If you want to see these beautiful city models go to these museums:
www.bolognawelcome.com/en/pla...
www.bolognawelcome.com/en/pla...
800 years ago Italy had skyscrapers, what happened to them?
00:00 - 02:31: Intro
02:31 - 04:15: Italy in medieval times and Bologna now
04:15 - 07:17: Chapter I Vendetta
07:17 - 08:41: Chapter II Rise
08:41 - 12:19: Chapter III Fall
Hi there, my name is Jochem Boodt. I make the show The Present Past, where I show how the present has been influenced by the past. History, but connected to the present and fun!
Every episode I show how history has influenced and made a thing, an idea or event in our present time.
I make different content. You can find me on:
TikTok: / thepresentpast
Instagram / the_presentpast
Twitter : / @thepresent_past
Logo by: / multicolor_junkie
If you have an idea for an episode please fill in this form:
www.dropbox.com/request/nMMMS...
Пікірлер: 700
Check out Manta Sleep here tinyurl.com/4bdyubnf and make sure to use the code PRESENTPAST for 10% off your order! Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/15D76PN61wWtAtd5rPuNkgrW5tIhzK7LX36jcuib8qe4/edit?usp=sharing
@seanrawlinson
21 күн бұрын
Tried PRESENTPAST and it keeps asking to enter a valid discount code.
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
@@seanrawlinson Oh no! Have you tried without caps?
@seanrawlinson
21 күн бұрын
@@ThePresentPast_ Tried in lowercase "presentpast" as well. Didn't work. I am using the Australian store. I'd be disappointed if it's only discounted in certain regions.
@seanrawlinson
21 күн бұрын
@@ThePresentPast_ I tried "presentpast" and it didn't work either. I live in Australia so I hope it isn't only discounted in certain regions. Could you find out from the sponsor?
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
@@seanrawlinson Ah that could be the case :s thnks for flagging it, I'll get in touch and get back to you.
"Mr. Berlusconi! A second Bugatti hit the second Tower."
@federicosaitta5900
19 күн бұрын
* a second Leonardo da Vinci's self-made helicopter
@matteorossi1172
19 күн бұрын
Buratti is french
@NovikNikolovic
19 күн бұрын
@@matteorossi1172 1. That's the point of the joke, that a foreign terrorist used a foreign car. 2. Bugatti is Italian anyway. The founder, Ettore Bugatti, was literally Italian and formed his automobile company in Alsace-Lorraine in 1909 (which was not even French at the time). 3. The Bugatti brand isn't even fully French TODAY because it's still a subdivision of Volkswagen (German brand).
@matteorossi1172
19 күн бұрын
@@NovikNikolovic my bad
@Rem_NL
18 күн бұрын
the joke was fun, the rest of your responses was pure aids
I visited Bologna last year and wondered this exact thing, the images online didn’t make sense to me because a skyline that vast would have surely dominated European consciousness and imagination, and yet it had been largely forgotten. Whilst it’s undoubtedly impressive for the time, I’m glad you put the towers of Bologna in their regional context and explored the sources behind these claims
@Novusod
22 күн бұрын
These towers aren't actually skyscrapers. They were just ornamental bell towers and most of them didn't even have bells because they were built purely for visual appeal. They were empty and nobody lived inside them. In the time before elevators nobody wanted to live inside a tower because climbing 200 or 300 stairs multiple times a day is a pain in the butt. There was no water up there either so people would have had to carry buckets up the stairs too.
@vistalover9607
19 күн бұрын
You’re totally underestimating the power of human collective forgetfulness and overestimating the power of memory. Just so anywhere in southern Italy and it’s absolutely ridiculous what was left and forgotten until recently is not still
@therealdannymullen
19 күн бұрын
Just so we're clear, it is believed it only took 3 generations for Brits to forget that Rome had built the roads in Britain. It just didn't get talked about and taught to their kids. If America fell (well, if all civilization fell, lol), my kids *might* teach their kids about the government and the highway dept, but unless specifically asked, I don't see why they would.
@zztopz7090
19 күн бұрын
@@Novusod Then they served some other purpose. Maybe they were docks for zeppelins.
@jamescheddar4896
19 күн бұрын
they would have had enough structural engineering knowledge to figure out they start falling down if they're made of stone
Finally, a science channel that explains the given question in about 10 minutes. I got so tired of sci-pop channels making 50-minute videos talking about something that can be explained in 5 minutes.
@SD-vy7gj
18 күн бұрын
So your happy with it being twice as long as it needs to be?
@bonk1049
18 күн бұрын
@@SD-vy7gjHe's happy that they're 5 times shorter than they usually are
@Scarletraven87
18 күн бұрын
Isn't this the same? It dragged for 10 minutes what it explained in 10 seconds at at 11:10
@Sumit_Girhe
18 күн бұрын
Poor attention span
@Tyger_Burrington
18 күн бұрын
Omg not a content creator creating content crazy idea go read some research the work of researches if you want something simply just explained this guy took a question with a 10 second answer and gave you a 12 minute one because he added more he made content so when someone takes a question with a 10 minute answer and takes 50 minutes it's because there making content and they are not researchers not that they don't do research but there goal is to turn what's out there into more not just read it out loud so smooth brain understand
this feels like a legit historical television programme great work
@dintadoba4808
21 күн бұрын
Tower Papa: It's 1269, jet plane not reale, it's not gonna hurt yo Tower babino: Che c*zz! Mama mia! It's Da Vinci's flying machine!!
@Aeiroq
19 күн бұрын
This is the videos goal so it’s winning 🎉
@amogusamongus
19 күн бұрын
💀@@dintadoba4808
Damn i think i waa there in assasin creed
@ThePresentPast_
22 күн бұрын
Same :)
@AbelTajima-mj5yx
22 күн бұрын
Welcome to Arstotzka!!!
@advleon
22 күн бұрын
San Gimignano was in Assassin's Creed 2
@Thesupermachine2000
22 күн бұрын
I saw it in assassins creed after being there on a schooltrip and had the exact opposite feeling😅
@thevillager8339
22 күн бұрын
That would be a very interesting game, @@AbelTajima-mj5yx
Even if it was less than 100, for a peasant who's probably never seen a third floor it'd be absolutely mind blowing
@Franckdatank
16 күн бұрын
If he’d never seen a lighthouse then yes
@istoppedcaring6209
2 күн бұрын
don't know remember that the skyscrapers only ever became possible due to one invention, the electric elevator. Before that they were limited to about 6 floors, anything more was useless cause nobody would want to live that high up
No way! LORENZO was my lecturer! Also....man I wanna marry these 3d animations holy sht
@ThePresentPast_
22 күн бұрын
Whuuuut no way haha
@danielfield2570
22 күн бұрын
Fellow Lancaster alumni here, great to see the uni getting good publicity.
@rogink
21 күн бұрын
Mostly flawless English, although his pronunciation of 'countryside' was a little off. Country and county had very different sounds :)
@Journal_Haris
21 күн бұрын
@@danielfield2570 represent ✊️✊️ I'm graduating this summer!
@TheAtomoh
21 күн бұрын
@rogink English pronunciation sucks
A few minutes into this video and i really hope you one day make a video diving into the Kawloon walled city. I honestly wish it was still around. It's fascinating how people built that over time in any way they could. No regulations, safety measures. Just necessity. If people could see it today they would legitimately think they were in the lower levels of the world of Blade Runner..
@ThePresentPast_
22 күн бұрын
My friend Neo already made the best video on this topic, go check it out!
@benmcreynolds8581
22 күн бұрын
@@ThePresentPast_ oh I've seen that! It really is an amazing video on that topic. Both of you guys make such awesome quality content. I'm always interested in seeing what you upload. Keep up the great work. Glad I found this channel
@JSnow-st7hm
20 күн бұрын
The entire reason it existed was because of the fact it used to be a Chinese fort which people then squatted on, then China claimed to control that specific area. The British colonial government left the area alone, then after a bunch of treaties and other diplomatic agreements, and the handover of Hong Kong, the Chinese let the British deal with the Walled City (This might not be accurate)
@worldcomicsreview354
19 күн бұрын
There was an arcade / shopping centre in Tokyo that was made to resemble the Kowloon Walled City, but it closed around the time of Corona.
@JSnow-st7hm
19 күн бұрын
@@worldcomicsreview354 Wasn’t that around 2010?
I've read somewhere that these towers were built in vertical to avoid taxation, which was based on land surface.
@screwstatists7324
22 күн бұрын
The nobility must have seen this happening and just thought like, alright, that's pretty cool. Respect dude
@vez3834
22 күн бұрын
Sounds plausible considering it's what happens with buildings nowadays. Should be careful when trying to project such ideas too far back or forward though.
@JackhammerJesus
21 күн бұрын
"Avoiding taxes" and "fertility cult" is what historians say when they do not know the answer.
@savioblanc
21 күн бұрын
Wasn't that the reason why Manhattan also started making skyscrapers? Lack of space and taxation?
@truesosense7722
19 күн бұрын
"Work smarter not harder"
Bologna is probably the most historically interesting city in Italy that is not popular among tourists. Also, this video and the towers reminded me of Assassin's Creed 2.
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
such an amazing game
@frawgeatfrawgworld
15 күн бұрын
Got pickpocketed 50 euros as I was paying for a train ticket there…
@Professicchio
10 күн бұрын
It also has the oldest running university in the world.
This kind of structure is called casatorre or casa torre, and was very common in Italy. In Florence, for example, there are still 50 case torri "scapitozzate", that means shortened, the original height was around 50-60 meters). Some of them were reduced for various reasons, but in the end, when one family (Medici) took control of the city, imposing their rule, all of them were reduced for political reasons. If you walk around the town, the former towers are pretty easy to spot.
The only place where you can still see how a medieval Italian town looked like is San Gimignano, the towers are still there. But it's really a shame that Bologna which had more than 70 and Firenze which had 150 towers no longer have them😢😢😢 They'd be the most spectacular places ever
Also some south German cities copied this trend from the other side of the alps. But similarly they were mostly torn down, shortened or the cities were bombed. Only Regensburg, has a large number of Towers with 2 in their original height
@severinejuillet8413
21 күн бұрын
I've found this page about the european medieval towers, very interesting de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschlechterturm
@OffGridInvestor
18 күн бұрын
A terrible amount of old buildings were wrecked due to bombing during the war. Disappointing to say the least
@realtalk6195
12 күн бұрын
@@OffGridInvestor In a few hundred years people will forget about the atrocities of the Axis (and the Allies) just like every other centuries-old atrocity is irrelevant to us. But the US military bIowing up historical architecture, many intentionally, will not be forgiven by historians.
Lorenzo’s combination of posh RP and Italian inflections makes for a very interesting and unique accent
@peterfireflylund
19 күн бұрын
“Cowntry sayid” ;)
@Trentrick_Lamar
18 күн бұрын
It almost reminds me of a German one but not exactly
Bologna! My favorite city in the world! I have never fallen in love with a city like I did with Bologna.
@ThePresentPast_
22 күн бұрын
It is such a nice town!
@runawaysailing2032
20 күн бұрын
Absolutely, we visited last year. It is the most vibrant city in all of Italy and probably all of Europe.
@Benxion1
19 күн бұрын
its beautiful i visited it not too long ago
@joshbrown2217
18 күн бұрын
Lived there for 3 months and absolutely loved it. The culture of the city is so beautiful and so different from the rest of Italy.
@Krzych88
18 күн бұрын
You can finally watch Bologna in Champions League next season.
Umberto Eco (Italian Intellectual) would probably have called on the French thinker Baudrillard to describe this progression from representation to representation and simulation to simulation until we reach a simulacra, or a replica of a thing which never existed
@brunorossibonin788
18 күн бұрын
It's kinda like a telephone game
The census by Gozzadini was based on ancient cadastre records. Therefore he did indeed double or triple count towers that changed name due to the change in ownership but were actually the same building. Moreover, not all towers he counted existed at the same time, as many collapsed or were demolished even in the middle age.
@themistoclesmachinator3764
13 күн бұрын
Molto probabilmente le 300 torri censite erano in realtà un centinaio, 24 delle quali ancora esistenti. Molte di quelle più antiche e basse furono inglobate nei palazzi che col tempo si ingrandivano e probabilmente, essendo alte anche poco più di 20 metri, non venivano considerate tali.
I just have to say I love the length of your videos. Many channels have inflated their watch times and these are very clean cut and direct. I'm sure you could kill it on something longer as well, but you seem to have really dialed in this 10-12 min range
@ThePresentPast_
19 күн бұрын
next video probably around 30 mins 👀
@simonpusateri3527
19 күн бұрын
@@ThePresentPast_ looking forward to it!
Excellent video. I absolutely love the 3d animations. I was reading on these towers just a couple of weeks ago I can safely say my thirst for more in depth information about them has been quenched. Thank you
Here in Sweden a castle with a 20 metres high tower was considered really massive! Very interesting to learn of the towers of Bologna! 😊
@redguy2489
16 күн бұрын
ITALYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY🔥🔥🔥
Amazingly high quality video. This is the level of large TV channels, and even better. Thank you.
Been following you since the first videos. The progress you've made is crazy. Keep it up, Jochem, love your videos!
@ThePresentPast_
22 күн бұрын
Appreciate that!
Your work keeps getting better and better. Well-paced, interesting, and impressively edited. Great stuff, Jochem. ~Chris
Beautiful video! Extremely well done, thoughtful, and impressive!!
I had the exact same question. After I read the Wikipedia page, and was unsatisfied with the answer, I never delved deeper. Thank you for actually following through and spending the time to inform all of us. It is a sincere, noble contribution to humanity.
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
My pleasure :)
@aceman0000099
3 күн бұрын
The wiki page should be updated!!
I lived in Bologna in the summer of 2017, and you & Lorenzo still taught me so much! Super underrated Italian city with awesome history and amazing food--cheap too!
Met you at Skate the other day, Jochem. Cool that you're engaging with your audience even more in New York now. Love the videos you've been putting out! Keep it up
Bologna the old Italian city was like the New York city of Medival Europe....a city filled with skyscrapers.The Italian architects were almost a millenia ahead of the Automation dependent architects of present World.
The true history of our world has been hidden. My Lunch Break is another great resource. Thanks
I love visiting Bologna. it's a lovely universitary city, full of culture and very nice people.
Fascinating! I've always been intrigued by these towers and wanting to know more!
Thanks for making this!
Great video! Really appreciated learning more about these towers.
wow, this was so well researched and beautifully presented, great work
Really interesting video. Excellent research. Thank you very much.
That's was an awesome watch. Thank you for making this movie!
Solid work; great job!
Just found the channel and i got a feeling i will stay here and binge watch your videos for a few hours now. Thanks
On the topic I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's Italian Communes playlist: that 's mind-blowing
GREAT video man, thanks for actually going to bologna!
I wish you had shot the footage of the newer model from a lower angle. Like so "table level" that you block out some of the lower half of the frame with the table itself. *To really simulate a human perspective in that time period*
Sometimes the gems of the internet appear on your timeline. You got yourself one more subscriber! Up to 1M for you!
Love Bologna! Just spent my Birthday there with my family.
I’m Italian and I call tell you that lots of cities were like that back in the day. Just try to take a look to Florence or Pavia in 1200s. They almost had more towers than residents. The most beautiful example still existing today is “San Gimignano” here in Tuscany, lots of towers survived and are still standing today! Over 800 years old.
The change in thumbnail actually worked on me bro good job
Fascinating - I had actually wondered about this as well and it makes sense the popular images are rather exaggerated
This was my nanas house. She passed away in 2016. But she used to sit outside in that closet all the time! I have many memories at that house and that back yard. Even though you’re making fun of my nana I love the video 😂😂😂 my family finds it funny aswell. Thank you so much for posting this 13years ago. I’m guessing you were staying in the hotel next to the house. I would see many people in the hotel growing up. Sometimes I would watch the tv while standing on the fence. These are memories I forgot. Thank you for posting.
I've heard that those tall towers are Keeps, the centerpiece of a castle, which in Bologna's case was the nobles who built tall keeps in the city to show off their wealth and status
Awesome video! Thank you!
Great work!
Wow. Great video . ❤
As a bolognese it warms my heart to see my city in this gorgeous video, thank you so much!
@ThePresentPast_
18 күн бұрын
My pleasure, love your city!
This is what the History channel should've been
@WindowsXP_logon_sound_25yrsago
15 күн бұрын
But where would Man vs Ice go?
@realtalk6195
13 күн бұрын
Even at its peak, the History Channel only covered a narrow scope of topics. The usual stuff you get from American interest in history. Very little medieval stuff in general.
the ad segment was everything for me
Always so much history and culture in Italy
I’m really happy u made this video. I’ve seen so many paintings of Italy with huge buildings but then all of the sudden they disappear after a few years with what seems little explanation from history
enjoyed this thanks
I admire your persistence in searching for the truth about something people just take for granted.
Super interesting and worthwhile research and video. Thank you. For great historical work, you get a subscribe!
Wow there were dozens of skyscrapers! That is amazing.
THANK YOU! I'm glad someone finally actually delved into the meat of this story, and I'm glad as hell it wasn't completely fabricated (despite the less impressive reality)
Love shows like this, super comfy, make me forget that im in southern IL surrounded by flat farm fields as far as you can see.
@WindowsXP_logon_sound_25yrsago
15 күн бұрын
Yeah I but I love the Midwest. Guess it's just in my blood. I love the open plains. It's rad and fly in it's own way.
Fantastic vid
Very interesting. Thank you.
Fascinating!!
Haha it was cool getting a cameo from horses
@h.szymanski
8 күн бұрын
Man Carrying Thing as well, I think...
Thanks for the subtitle!
Great video
I don't have an interest in Italy or towers but I was compelled to stay , very diligent piece of work you did. Thank you for the history lesson
Love this video! If you like towers why don't you come to Siena too? we used to have about one hundred towers here too, you'll find them (or what's left of them) fascinating.
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
Love that city too
Amazing video
Great use of the historic method. People tend to take pictures at face value in social media when they should do the absolute opposite.
I enjoyed this different look at history.
Fantastisch in elkaar gezet
Thank you . 😊 the drawling seemed suspect .
Love the ad!
This was very fun to watch. Thank you.
Fascinating history. Thanks for posting. With male ego involved, one can be sure that each man who had his tower built, wanted to have the biggest one.
@ionescuflorin7307
15 күн бұрын
Just like in the Emirates etc today
Really pretty interesting
Very interesting video, thank you! I heard San Gimignano, (an Italian town in Tuscany, southwest of Florence) is famous for having many towers, some still standing.
That 3Dmodel of the bologna skyline is unbelievable. Crazy that it was real, in a 13th century city no less
i live there, so nice to see the city i live in get covered! :)
Quality content
You may want to make a follow up about Pavia, the city of 100 towers. It's my home town and you probably know a lot about it already but there's so much history there and very few people know nothing about it, and it's a shame. I have a good contact there if you want to do this seriously
12:03 @ThePresentPast - this video was very high quality content and I would love to watch the Dispatch, perhaps you could repeat the event in Amsterdam for those who cannot travel to NY? Or invite your Dutch fans to watch them together, maybe in the new IDFA pavilion if they see a connection to screening what are basically short history documentary programmers. It’s a lot of random ideas and asking a lot, but I thought I would put the ideas out there. Thank you for this insight into medieval Italy and Bologna 😊
@ThePresentPast_
21 күн бұрын
Next year London might be an option!
The book by John Grisham The Broker is based in Bologna, in the book the history of the towers is talked about.
Man, I'm out of town on the 20th. Catch you next time!
1:05 you had to go there to find the answer? Crazy, I just found a 12 min. KZread about this very thing and got all the answers I needed!
This brings new meaning to full of Bologna.
In the church of San Teodoro, in Pavia, there is a renaissance fresco by Bernardino Lanzani that show exactly the skyline of a medieval Italian city.
Bologna is pretty cool. But when you want to get an impression of a medieval town with many big towers, San Gimignano is the place to go. One of the biggest one you can even climb.
You have to come in Pavia for an episode 2 !
1. Once again thank you very much for you awesome work. 2. Which island did you visit in Greece? 3. Is there any chance to do a European video night as well? :)
Hey I don't follow your channel but I liked this video. I think it's great you're doing the theater thing in NYC too
@ozeppeo
22 күн бұрын
Why don't you follow his channel?
@DonaldDucksRevenge
22 күн бұрын
@@ozeppeo I take time to research before subbing.
Liked and subscribed! 👍
really interesting
i was lucky enough to climb asinelli, which who knows may never open to the public again like that. it was honestly unforgettable. a bit like climbing a 1000 year old chimney very high into the sky
sleepin next to the Pantheon(?) 1:43 , haha like a true greek ancient civilian chillin on that hill
That looks more like when i build up in Minecraft