The Tower of the Commandery once stood beside the Church of Santa Maria del Tempio, the seat of the Knights Templar since 1161, at the corner of what are now Strada Maggiore and Vicolo Malgrado. Standing 25 meters tall and weighing around 400 tons, the tower was, on August 12, 1455, moved entirely intact by a remarkable 13 meters.
The mastermind behind this audacious feat was the brilliant Bolognese architect Aristotile Fioravanti, who accepted the challenge proposed by Achille Malvezzi, rector of the Church of San Giovanni Gerosolimitano, which had acquired the Templar properties after the Order’s dissolution.
The official reason for the unusual request was that the tower obstructed the view toward Porta Maggiore and also hid the church façade. However, some claimed that Malvezzi had a more secret motive: to unearth the legendary Templar treasure.
Confident in his skills, Fioravanti demonstrated his boldness by having his son stand atop the tower as it slid on iron-banded oak rollers, set atop massive oak beams. The tower withstood the unprecedented relocation and remained standing until May 1825, when Luigi Aldini, secretary of the National Assets Agency, ordered its demolition—this time, openly in search of the fabled treasure hidden beneath it.
The Templar gold, of course, was never found.
