Leaning Tower of Pisa
Leaning tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or bell tower, for Pisa's cathedral, the Duomo di Pisa. It was built to stand vertically but began leaning soon after construction started in August, 1173.
The height of the tower is 55 metres from the ground. Its weight is estimated at 14,453 tonnes. The current inclination is about 10%. The tower has 296 steps.
The construction of the building began on 9 august 1173 and it lasted two centuries. After the third floor was built in 1178, the tower began leaning and the construction was stopped for a century. In 1272, another four floors were built in a diagonale for compensation with the tilting. The construction was again stopped in 1301, and only in 1372 the last floor was built and the bell was installed.
It is believed that Galileo Galilei dropped two balls of different masses from this tower to demonstrate that their velocity of descent was independent of their mass.
Benito Mussolini wanted that the tower be returned to vertical, so cement was poured in its foundation. The results weren't as expected and the tower plunged into the soft soil.
During World War II, almost all towers in Pisa were destroyed by the American army, since they could be used by snipers. The Leaning Tower was too, scheduled to be blown up, but a last minute retreat order prevented this from happening.
The government of Italy asked for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over on February 27, 1964.
On January 7, 1990 the Tower was closed to the public due to safety concerns.
Recently, reconstruction work was done to try to reduce the tower's angle. The tower was reopened to the public on June 16, 2001 after the completion of ten years of work.
History
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