The Torre di San Vitale is one of the three great medieval towers of the walls of Como: it stands at the south-eastern corner of the walled city, facing viale Lecco, beside the Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio. It is about 36 metres high, has a pentagonal base and since 2021 has been surrounded by fences.
History
The walls of Como were rebuilt in the twelfth century, after the Milanese destruction of 1127, and the big gate of the south side, Porta Torre, dates from 1192. The two pentagonal towers at its sides, San Vitale to the east and Porta Nuova to the west, are considered later: UPEL dates the Torre di San Vitale to the fourteenth century and the Lombardia Beni Culturali entry says they were built after Porta Torre. The sources are not unanimous on their period, because the same regional entry, in its historical part, places the Porta Nuova tower already in the Federician phase, and the Wikipedia entry on Porta Torre gives all three towers to 1192, while the one on the walls dates the two pentagonal ones to the fourteenth century.
The eastern side of the walls was reworked in the communal age: the Castello della Torre Rotonda dates from 1284-1285 and around those years the Porta San Vitale was opened, still visible beside the tower, in front of via Perlasca, where it meets viale Lecco; the walls were also extended to the lake. In 1926, to let public transport through, two openings were cut in the walls beside the tower (Società Archeologica Comense).
What to see
You see a massive keep on a pentagonal base, which on the city side keeps some round-arched windows. From the tower the walls continue to the north and, further on, the public garden along the eastern side; little remains of the east stretch. Beside it is the Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio, whose rooms are closed for maintenance, as its page says.
Current state
Since 13 April 2021 fragments of stone have been coming loose from the tower (Svolta Civica motion reported by ComoZero). La Provincia di Como reports that in 2021 a piece of stone fell on a market van, smashing its windscreen; the tower was fenced off. Giancarlo Frigerio, president of the Società Archeologica Comense, explained that such episodes depend on temperature swings and on plant roots slipping between the stones. In April 2025 he said that with the Comune they were studying how to open «the museum of the Torre di San Vitale» to the public, with no dates; we have not found other news about this project.
A Svolta Civica motion of 11 September 2026, reported by EspansioneTv and ComoZero, recalls that the tower is still surrounded by fences, like Porta Torre and Torre Gattoni. There is no date for reopening and it cannot be climbed: it is looked at from outside.
Practical information
- Address: south-eastern corner of the walls, between viale Lecco and via Balestra.
- The outside can be seen freely, the tower cannot be visited and has no opening hours.
- The mayor announced the end of the restoration works on the walls of via Balestra on 8 August 2023 (ComoZero).
- It is the third stop of the itinerary Medieval Como.
Sources
- Lombardia Beni Culturali, Mura medioevali di Como
- UPEL Italia, Mura medievali (29/3/2022)
- Società Archeologica Comense, Le mura di Como, chapter 1 and chapter 2
- La Provincia di Como, «Anche a Porta Torre transenne da tre anni» (3/4/2025)
- ComoZero, la situazione delle torri medievali (2026)
- EspansioneTv, Mura e torri di Como, mozione di Svolta Civica (11/9/2026)
- Wikipedia, entry Porta Torre (Como).
