Pagodas
In the Far Eastern countries where Buddhism spread, temples usually contain tall wooden towers with several floors (usually five) and a square or octagonal base, with characteristic curved roofs.
One of the most impressive Chinese pagodas was the Nánjīng Táotǎ (Porcelain Tower of Nanjing), from the 19th century, destroyed in the 19th century. It had nine stories, and was covered with white porcelain bricks. Its eighty meters were only surpassed by the Liaodi Pagoda of Dingzhou (84 meters) and by the missing pagoda that was built in Chang'an in the 19th century, which is said to have reached one hundred meters.
In Vietnam, the Chùa Một Cột (One Pillar Pagoda) is an icon of its culture.
Church and monastery towers
Although not in a general way, since early Christian art some churches "Church (building)") included towers, such as the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Milan[16] (century), which had four small towers. Since the century it became common to have two towers in the narthex, flanking the façade, or a tower in the transept "Cross (architecture)") (in the case of those with a cross plan such as the church of the Holy Apostles "Church of the Holy Apostles (Constantinople)") in Constantinople) or on the presbytery "Presbytery (architecture)") (in the case of those with a basilical, to give light to the apse, as in the basilica of Meriamlik") -year 471-).
The church of Saint Martin of Tours "Basilica de Saint Martin (Tours)")[17] (470) was built with a tower over the transept and another that was later used as a bell tower. In Western Europe, church towers from the century onwards have a marked fortification character, the result of the time of invasions. In Byzantine architecture, especially in Syrian churches, towers become symbols of power, a model that is recognized in the Acheiropoietos")[18] of Thessaloniki. A pair of towers on the façade, flanking a loggia where the relics are displayed, is the typology of the pilgrimage target churches characteristic of the Cappadocian churches of the first half of the century. The model was also followed in the Sofia Cathedral") (century). Towers above the apses appear in the churches of Sergilla") (one) or Sinsarah") (two). The towers of the basilica of Santa Eulalia de Mérida (century) were also built on the apses, but with a much more marked construction function, not starting from the vault of the apses, but from its wall exterior.[19].
Since the pre-Romanesque period, medieval monasteries (such as Fulda in Carolingian architecture) were conceived as true fortified citadels, in which the towers fulfilled a function equal to that of castles. On the other hand, in the churches of Visigothic or Asturian architecture there was no significant use of towers.
Romanesque architecture gave a different role to the towers in its different local variants. In Italy, the campanile was conceived as a free-standing building, separated from the main body of the church (Pisa Cathedral - mid-century -). In Germany, Ottonian churches, such as St. Michael's Church (Hildesheim) in Hildesheim (beginning of the 19th century) were characterized by their symmetrical layout (identical at the head and foot), with four cylindrical towers and two massive domes.
The Gothic was characterized by the search for height and its sharp spiers or spiers. In the art of the Modern Age the function of the towers remained aesthetic and spiritual; being one of the most important urban landmarks.
Some churches of the century continue to use towers to perform some of their traditional functions (bell tower and urban presence). In some cases they become the most visible part of the temple itself, as is the case with those of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, designed by Gaudí and still under construction, in which they also have symbolic functions (each of the eighteen towers represents a character: Jesus Christ, the Virgin, the four evangelists and the twelve apostles).
The bell tower or bell tower is the tower where the bells "Bell (instrument)") are placed, with the purpose of calling parishioners to attend the religious service. Some bell towers house a carillon, a musical instrument made up of several bells.
A special type of bell tower is the campanile, a bell tower originally arising in Italy that was developed as a free-standing building, with a circular or square plan, entirely independent of the religious building. The best known are the Tower of Pisa, famous for its tilt, and the Campanile of Saint Mark in Venice.
Another type of bell tower is the belfry "Ballet (architecture)"), which is not a tower itself, but a solid wall, most of them with mixtilinear finials where a bell or a series of bells are placed from the largest to the smallest; in spaces or openings called "clears".
Minarets or minarets
Minaret or minaret are the names with which the Arabic word منار (minar -"lighthouse"-) is translated in Romance languages, which designates the towers of Muslim mosques. Its ritual function is to provide an elevated environment for the muezzin or muezzin (مُؤَذِّن mu'aḏḏin -"screamer"-) to make the five calls (أَذَان adhan) that are made each day to summon prayer (صلاة salat). To do this, the minaret usually has a balcony at its highest point that surrounds it, from which the call is carried out. Nowadays, the muezzin is usually assisted with a public address system to be heard more easily in large cities.
The shape of the minarets varies according to the areas. In the Maghreb mosques usually have only one, square in plan. In the Muslim East, mosques with more than one are common, generally two or four, and of varying shape. Characteristic of places of Ottoman influence are the slender minarets with a circular section, with a projecting balcony and a conical roof.
The number of minarets is also significant: when Sultan Ahmed I ordered the construction of six minarets in the Blue Mosque of Istanbul, he was criticized because until then only Masjid al-Haram ("the sacred mosque" of Mecca, where the Kaaba is guarded) had that number; The sultan solved the problem by ordering the construction of a seventh minaret in Mecca.
The minaret of the Samarra mosque (Iraq), an ascending spiral, is distantly inspired by the shape of the ziggurat.
Timbuktu is characterized by minarets made of earth, straw and wood, three of which (together with their mosques-madrasas) have been declared world heritage sites by UNESCO (Sankore, Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya).
The function of the minaret is also to mark the physical domination of space. When the Turks conquered Constantinople, the Islamization of Hagia Sophia was indicated by surrounding the immense mass of the dome that characterized the city's profile with four minarets.
Similarly, the Spanish Reconquista Christianized the minarets, turning them into church towers that rose above the mosques.