Leaning Tower Of Pisa: Cathedral bell tower in Pisa, Italy
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a building in Pisa, Italy.
It is a bell tower. It is famous for its nearly four-degree lean. In 1990 the tower was leaning at 5.5 degrees and increasing. After that, much restoration work has been done to stop it from falling over completely. There was scaffolding all around the tower for 20 years. On 26 April 2011, the last bit of scaffolding was removed so that the tower can be seen properly again.
| Leaning Tower of Pisa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| District | Tuscany |
| Province | Pisa |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | open |
| Location | |
| Location |  Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | 43°43′24″N 10°23′39″E / 43.72333°N 10.39417°E |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Bonanno Pisano |
| Groundbreaking | 1173 |
| Completed | 1372 |
| Specifications | |
| Height (max) | 55.86 metres (183.3 ft) |
| Materials | marble,stone |
| Website | |
| http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html | |
The height of the tower is about 56 metres from the ground. Its weight is about 14,500 tons. It now leans at about 88 degrees. The tower has 294 feet.
The tower construction began in 1173. When the second floor was built in 1178, the tower started to lean. This was because it had a small three-meter foundation in soft soil. The design of this tower was bad from the beginning. Construction was stopped for almost 100 years because the people of Pisa were often at war with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence.
There is an old story that Galileo Galilei used the Tower for a physics experiment.
Why it is leaning
The reason why it's leaning is because of the weak, unstable subsoil.
Earthquake survival
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has survived four earthquakes since 1280.
Some photos
Related pages
References
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