Topless Towers

The famous Topless Towers of Cairhien are among the most famous landmarks of that city. 
==History and Description==
As part of the traditional Carihienin attempt to be the best at everything, several lords commissioned the construction of the tallest towers in the land within their city, leading to a brief craze in the construction of these towers before it died off. It is not known how many towers there are, although they continue to dominate the Cairhienin skyline around the city. They appear at regular intervals in the city, consistent with the rigid geometric plan of the city.
During the First Battle of Cairhien during the Aiel War, the Topless Towers were set alight and several were damaged. It is not known if any were destroyed outright before the Cairhienin got the fires under control. Due to the chaos of the subsequent war of succession and the following political instability, the Towers were still being rebuilt at the time of the Shaido War and Rand al'Thor's arrival in the city, some twenty-four years later. Samitsu Tamagowa describes the remaining towers as "enormous square spires with huge buttresses... wrapped in their own scaffolds." She also estimates that they could be completed given another twenty years of construction.
==Height==
The height of the towers is never given explicitly, although an estimate can be made. When Rand visits the city for the first time, he notes that the tallest of the towers was more than twenty times the height of the city wall. Mat Cauthon can see the towers from five miles away poking out abover the intervening forest. This doesn't help much in estimating height other than to emphasise that they are very tall. Samitsu observes that they are "much taller by far than any in the palace despite its location on the highest hill in a city of hills." 
Moiraine mentions in New Spring that, although the towers are substantial in height, they never reached close to the height of the White Tower in Tar Valon. Her thoughts on them are presumably on the towers at their full height as this is what she would be used to. The towers would have been partially destroyed only short beforehand. Elaida echoes this opinion, saying that "not even the fabled 'topless towers' of Cairhien had truly rivaled the White Tower. Certainly none of Tar Valon's lesser towers did, for all that men spoke far and wide of them". This sounds like they may have been close in height, but not that close, and perhaps taller than any of the minor towers of Tar Valon. The bridges connecting these minor towers are two hundred or more feet up (61+ m), which implies the towers they join are at least that tall and the topless towers taller still. For the upper limit, they cannot be taller than the White Tower (500 ft or 152m). Combining these, a range of between 250–400 ft (76-122m) seems reasonable.
==Parallels==
This may be a reference to the topless towers of Ilium as referenced in Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. The topless towers are usually interpreted as not being incredibly tall, as no historical records of such towers exist, but rather that they cannot be topped i.e. they are formidable and undefeated defences.
Category:Cairhien
Category:Other notable buildings
Category:Parallels