Pianoro
Subject: Dispersed buildings
Toponym: Torre dell'Erede
Type: Tower house
Municipality: Pianoro
Locality: Zena
Description
"A building rich in structural and decorative features such as doorways and windows with ashlar surrounds and pointed arches. In addition there are ashlars decorated with dentils and anthropomorphic figurines incorporated in the masonry.
The upper part of the tower does not date from the same period as the rest of the building, most likely built in the 13th century" (source: Carta dei Beni Culturali e Naturali della Provincia di Bologna - "Map of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Province of Bologna", Edizioni Alfa, Bologna, 1977).
Between the 1980s and 1990s an external wooden structure, protruding from the masonry, was built on the top of the tower. It may have been intended to evoke a defensive structure but is objectionable from a typological viewpoint.
Now the place is not accessible, as it is fenced off together with the adjacent buildings. Thus there are no recent photos, resulting in a regrettable loss of the place's cultural value.
The name refers to an "Erede", or heir, which has little sense as a toponym, but the original name was probably "Torre della Rete" ("Tower of the Net").