Landmark sights in Pisa

1. A Map

   Leaning Tower

   • Pisa, Italy
   • Sights › Landmark

   Yes, it's true: the Leaning Tower really does lean. Construction work started in 1173 but ground to a halt a decade later when the structure's first three tiers started tilting. In 1272 work started again, with artisans and masons attempting to bolster the foundations but failing miserably. Despite this, they kept going, compensating for the lean by gradually building straight up from the lower storeys and creating a subtle banana curve.

   Over the centuries, the tower has tilted an extra 1mm each year. By 1993 it was 4.47m out of plumb, more than five degrees from the vertical. The most recent solution saw steel braces slung around the third storey that were then joined to…

   reviewed

   • 0
   • 0