The World-Famous Iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa!
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The Leaning Tower of Pisa is probably one of the most famous buildings in the world due to its unintentional tilt! The tower is 56 metres (183 feet) tall, and currently leans at an angle of around 3.9 degrees and for the time being it is structurally safe and sound, which means you can enjoy climbing it when you visit!
Although the Tower of Pisa may be the most famous, it's actually one of four buildings in the square that make up what is referred to as the 'Field of Miracles'. The 4 buildings are:
They started construction of the Tower of Pisa in 1173 and it was going to be a freestanding bell tower or 'campanile' for the cathedral that sits next door (the 'Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta'). It actually took nearly 200 years for them to complete the Tower of Pisa though, due to various issues during the construction, not just the tilt, but also political unrest, wars, debt and other reasons which all factored into the delay.
The famous tilt actually began to happen during its construction and is due to the unstable foundation soil under the building. Engineers did try to compensate by shifting the weight and making the upper floors lean the opposite way to try and counter-balance it, but it didn't work! The tower has 8 floors in total, including the bell floor.
The tower was built with 7 bells and each bell represents a note on the musical scale, being the notes A-G. The bells were used for various purposes, including marking the hours as well as celebrating significant events.
There have been multiple attempts over the centuries to correct/reinforce the Leaning Tower of Pisa and to make it safe/stable. The latest of which was in the 1990’s at which point the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees and a major engineering project was carried out to fix/reinforce it and it actually reduced the tilt over the next twenty years until 2008! Since 2008, no further movement -/+ has been detected and the angle currently sits at 3.9 degrees!
Although all 4 buildings in the square are impressive, you could say the tower has done the city wonders as its brought millions of extra tourists to visit and admire it, who may not normally have visited! They may visit for the tower, but they generally leave impressed by all 4 buildings.
Whether you're fascinated by its engineering challenges, intrigued by its history, or just want to snap a classic photo, the Leaning Tower of Pisa offers a memorable experience and welcomes around 5,000,000 visitors each year!