ÿþ tower
                                                               
Adrian Tranquilli
An elliptical stone tower stretches four stories above a dry moat. Windowless except for the top floor, the fortress known as Il Torrione was part of the medieval wall that enclosed the town of Cagli. Fifteen hundred years later, tiny European Smart cars and Opels zip and buzz around its rotary. A hulking landmark in the peaceful town, the tower no longer serves to protect but rather to promote Cagli.
  Paolo Icaro
Incornice
To cross the bridge, over the dry moat from the street, and to step into the recesses of the ancient tower is to enter Italy's cutting-edge art scene. Iron beams spiral from the ceiling over a circle of finely ground metallic dust. Fire engine red fingertips are hovering, stretching toward the walls, attached by a seemingly magnetic force.
  Ernesto Porcari
Madrigale II The experience of entering the tower and plunging into the Contemporary Sculpture Centre takes one's breath away. So does the ancient cold air between the thick walls. The Torrione represents Cagli's past while simultaneously opening the eyes of visitors to Italy's most famous contemporary artists.
  Giovanna Bolognini The museum was established in 1989, when a well-known group of Italian sculptors made a proposal to the town, in particular to Assessorator Alla Cultura, Cagli's main office of cultural events. They wanted to install a permanent collection of sculpture designed specifically for the Torrione.
  Ilugi Manolfi
The town officials, with the Assessorato Alla Cultura, accepted the proposal, eager to promote the under-appreciated world of contemporary art. The exhibit would also attract visitors to Cagli. Unfortunately, the townspeople initially opposed the plan.
  Carlo Lorenzetti Arcuale
Many locals seem to have an innate respect for Classical, Renaissance, and Baroque art, but perhaps were less familiar with, and therefore less accepting of, contemporary art. It was the goal of these sculptors to introduce a new, often overlooked, art form.
Eliseo Mattiacci Tensione Magnetica
The opening of the Contemporary Sculpture Centre coincided with the 700th anniversary of Cagli's reconstruction. Thirteen years later, time has erased the opposition against contemporary art. Now there's a growing pride and open-mindedness toward the work of Italy's most renowned contemporary sculptors.
Ernesto Porcari
In a city where a travelling market still comes through town once a week, pausa lasts from one in the afternoon until five o'clock every day, and every morning the same people gather at Caffe del Commercio for their morning cappuccino, the shocking discovery of the contemporary Sculpture Centre nestled inside the Torrione links Cagli's sturdy past to its forward thinking future.
  Adrian Tranquilli
Text, Photographs, and Design Production by Marissa Norkus
Design Production and Graphic Design by Kerri-Ann Jennings

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