Tower of Pisa - Pisa,
ItalyThe leaning Tower of Pisa is
famous because it leans. Although it was designed to be perfectly
vertical, it started to lean during construction.
However, even without this
famous characteristic, this building would still be one of the most
remarkable architectural structures from medieval
Europe.It stands at 60 metres and
until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle.Tower of Pisa
is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or
campanile. The Pisa tower is one of the
four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa,
Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which
means Field of Miracles.The first building constructed at Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa, was
the cathedral, or Duomo di Pisa, which rests on a white marble pavement and is an impressive example of
Romanesque architecture. The next building added was the baptistery just west of the dome.
Then work on the campanile began. Before the work on the campanile was completed the cemetery, Campo Santo,
was built.
Piazza dei Miracoli of Pisa is the most splendiferous assemblage
of Romanesque architecture in Italy. Faced in gray-and-white striped marble and bristling with columns and
arches, the cathedral, with its curiously Islamic dome and matching domed baptistery, rises from an emerald
green lawn.
Flanking one side of the piazza, the camposanto, or cemetery, is a
gracefully elongated cloister enclosing a burial ground with earth reputedly brought back during the Crusades
from Golgotha, the hill where Jesus was crucified, so that noble Pisans could rest in holy
ground. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the piazza's crowning
glory. Although only a third as high as the Washington Monument, it was a
miracle of medieval engineering, probably the tallest bell towers in Europe.
With 207 columns ranged around eight stories, Tower of Pisa looks like a
massive wedding cake knocked precariously askew by a clumsy giant guest.The construction of Tower of
Pisa began in August 1173 and contin
ued for about 200 years due to the
onset of a series of wars. Till today, the name of the architect is a
mystery.The leaning Tower of
Pisa was designed as a circular bell tower that would stand 185
feet high. It is constructed of white marble. The tower has eight
stories, including the chamber for the bells.The bottom story consists of 15 marble arches. Each of the next
six stories contains 30 arches that surround the tower. The final story is the bell chamber itself, which has
16 arches. There is a 297 step spiral staircase inside the tower leading to the top.
The top of the leaning tower of Pisa is about 17 feet off the
vertical. The tower is also slightly curved from the attempts by various architects to keep it from leaning
more or falling over.
Many ideas have been suggested to straighten the Tower of Pisa,
including taking it apart stone by stone and rebuilding it at a different location. In the 1920s the
foundations of the tower were injected with cement grouting that has stabilized the tower to some
extent.
Until recent years tourists were not allowed to climb the
staircase inside the tower, due to consolidation work. But now the leaning Tower of Pisa is open again and it
is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.