Angevin tower, Medieval defensive tower in Bitonto, Italy

The Angevin Tower is a 15th-century tower in Bitonto, the largest of the twenty-eight towers along the old city walls. Its circular plan measures 16.10 m across, and the tuff-block base is 4.90 m thick. Inside, three vaulted rooms sit on three levels: circular on the first and third floors, octagonal with a cross vault and a fireplace on the second.

The tower was probably begun at the end of the 14th century to defend Porta Baresana, though some scholars date the works to the first half of the 15th century under Giovanni I Ventimiglia and Marino Correale. A 1399 document attributed to Queen Margherita, wife of King Carlo III of Naples, mentions a castellano there. In 1503 the Duke of Nemours called it no less strong than the tower of Bruges, and it later served as a prison.

The tower's name comes from the Angevin dynasty, though some scholars attribute its construction to Giovanni I Ventimiglia and Marino Correale, whose heraldic crests are carved on the capitals of the fireplace columns on the second floor. After a major internal restoration it now houses a Gallery of Contemporary Art and hosted the second edition of the Bitonto Art Festival.

The tower stands in Bitonto's historic centre, near Porta Baresana, and is reached on foot through the old town streets. Inside, three vaulted levels are linked by fortified corridors, with the octagonal second-floor room and its carved fireplace capitals among the details to look for. Excavations have brought to light the casemates, ravelins and moat at the base, plus the pentagonal foundation and a drawbridge walkway that once linked the tower to the surrounding piazza.

Excavations around the tower brought to light the casemates added in the 1490s, the ravelins, the moat, the pentagonal base and a drawbridge walkway that linked the tower to the surrounding piazza. The tower was also joined to the other twenty-seven wall towers by underground passages.