The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Tower at Pisa has been leaning since the early days of its construction

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Tower at Pisa has been leaning since the early days of its construction. It had only reached a height of 10 metres when the foundations started to slip. Atempts were made to correct this but the structure was completed as a leaning tower in 1350, about 175 years after the work had first started.

North Italy has a number of leaning towers but most of them started leaning quite a while after they were built, so the one at Pisa is unique.

The tower is made from white marble and is nearly 56 metres high and has 8 storeys, each containing 8 bells that sound a different note on the musical scale. It used to be possible, until relatively recently, to climb to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa and look at the view below. This was a strange experience as the tower does lean over at quite a sharp angle. For safety reasons, this is now not allowed.