These mini castles were built all over the city.
The reasons for the construction of so many towers are not clear. One hypothesis is that the richest families used them for offensive/defensive purposes during the period of the Investiture Controversy.
Only a few survive to the current day.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Bologna https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207418306952
Depends on the definitions being used.
Some sources, such as UNESCO and the Guinness World Records, have cited al-Qarawiyyin as the oldest university or oldest continually operating higher learning institution in the world.