Torre del Tormento, Medieval tower in Vicenza, Italy

The tower sits on Piazza delle Erbe and displays the hallmarks of medieval defensive architecture, built with cut stone blocks and small apertures typical of the period. Its compact form stands out distinctly within the plaza's surrounding structures.

The tower was built in the 12th century by the Carnaroli family and surrounded by a moat, which gave it the name Torre del Girone. The following century the municipality of Vicenza bought it and turned it into a prison and a store for civic archives and the Registro. In 1509 criminals set it on fire to destroy evidence against them, and the archives burned with it. From the mid-17th century to the second half of the 19th century it again served as a jail, later moved to San Biagio.

The tower carries two names: Torre del Girone, after the moat that once surrounded it, and Torre del Tormento, from its use as a prison. It is linked to the Basilica Palladiana by the Arco degli Zavatteri, the shoemakers' arch.

The tower stands at the rear of the Basilica Palladiana on Piazza delle Erbe, linked to it by the Arco degli Zavatteri, in Vicenza's old centre. It is reached on foot through the pedestrian streets around the square. The tower is a medieval structure seen from the outside; the interior is not described in the sources.

The thick stone walls and narrow windows were specifically designed for defense and show how medieval builders merged protection with visible presence. This surviving example of period military architecture demonstrates how such structures functioned both as fortifications and symbols of authority.