Muda Tower, or Torre della Muda, is a medieval tower incorporated into the Palazzo dell’Orologio on Pisa’s Piazza dei Cavalieri. The palace’s clock and Renaissance façade, remodelled under Giorgio Vasari, make the tower easy to overlook. Its other name, the Hunger Tower, hints at the grim story that made it famous.
In 1289, Count Ugolino della Gherardesca died here after being imprisoned with two sons and two grandsons. Their deaths by starvation became the subject of one of the most unsettling episodes in Dante’s Inferno, in Canto XXXIII. The tower’s earlier name is associated with the moulting of birds of prey once kept there.
This small monument rewards a pause on a walk through Pisa’s historic centre. Look at the Palazzo dell’Orologio’s stonework, then turn towards the decorated façade of Palazzo della Carovana across the square. The tower is best appreciated from outside; the building houses a university library, so don’t count on entering. Read the relevant canto of Dante beforehand, and visit in the morning or late afternoon when the light is gentler on the façade.