The Abbot’s Tower is a tall, narrow tower-like structure located in the east wing of the convent. Belonging to the old convent buildings, and also known as the Habitatione del Prelato, it was connected to the presbytery area of the cathedral and was linked to the chapter house on one of its four sides. Originally, the passage between this room and the right wing of the Cathedral’s transept didn’t have a roof. This was designed during the work commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni Borgia at the end of the 15th century when the first floor of the Abbot’s tower was transformed into a sacristy. The southern side is now part of the complex consisting of the archbishop’s palace and the seminary. A picture by the scholar Del Giudice shows the tower in the 12th century crowned with battlements.
