The tower stands in the old centre of San Pietro, on the road leading to the church of the same name (Saint Peter’s). To date we have no reliable historical or bibliographic records showing when the tower was actually built or altered. However, on the basis of structural analysis we do know that it dates from the Middle Ages. The tower has a square 5-by-5-metre base and is 15 metres high. It may have been a watchtower (the old Via Francisca route to lake Como passed nearby) or a beacon tower (the tower at Segname on the mountain opposite is clearly visible from here). Frederick Barbarossa is said to have stayed at the tower in the hamlet of San Pietro near Samolaco, known then as Selvapiana. Up until 1958 a covered stone archway, at the top of an external flight of steps, led to a second floor of the building. Town council meetings were held in the road that passed beneath this arch (15th-17th centuries). It was probably also used to count sheep as they set off for the pastures at Pian di Mezzola, in the presence of the Commissary of Chiavenna. Over the centuries the tower, known as the Culumbèe tower, is thought to have been lowered and converted into a private dwelling. It is currently home to an ethnographic museum with a collection of photographs of village life and objects and tools from the past which have been donated or lent by villagers.