Torre di San Vincenzo
Cent. 16th
Torre San Vincenzo is a 16th century building, constructed with expertly crafted ashlar blocks which holds a great deal of historical interest. The lower floor with its barrel-vaulted ceiling remains cools even on the hottest days and the roof slopes down towards the east. There are two large windows on the upper floor, one with a storm drain and the other bricked up, like a closed eye. Inside there is a well which was used to collect and store rain water. It is said that monks once lived here and that later the tower belonged to the architect Sangirardi, who built the altar of the church in Auricarro. Each stone seems to be a reminder of the life that was lived here, the work, devotion and vigilance. Today the tower is no longer situated in the place in which it was built. When the “Statale 96”, the new road connecting Bari and Matera, was built, it was decided that the tower should be moved, something that had never before been attempted in Italy. The tower was reinforced, harnessed, and encircled with wooden and metal hoops.
Every vibration was measured; every movement of the stone was monitored. Today, separated from its original foundations, it sits on a new concrete base. The journey was intricate: every day the tower was slid along tracks, pushed by hydraulic jacks, at a rate of two metres a day like a slow-moving giant pushed by invisible hands. It would seem impossible that a centuries-old monument could be moved, but today Torre San Vincenzo has come to its new resting place, looking out over the Murgia region, no longer just an ancient outpost, but a symbol of equilibrium, a point in which the past meets the future without being forgotten.