Why Does the Leaning Tower of Pisa Lean?
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply The Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) after the cathedral and the baptistry. Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. The tower presently leans to the southwest. The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a marble bell tower at Pisa, Italy. Even though the tower has been leaning since it was under construction, it has stood for hundreds of years, despite the fact that it looks as if it might fall any minute. The tower was begun over 800 years ago, in 1173, and after the first three of its eight storie
The Leaning Tower of Pisa continues to lean because when they restored the building, they considered correcting the lean (which is caused by the tower sinking slowly and unevenly into the ground) they realized that it wouldn’t be a significant tourist destination if it didn’t lean. So they decided to sort of limit how much it leans (they straightened it out a little bit) because they don’t want it to fall over, but they don’t want it totally straight either.
The tower of Pisa is approximately 56m high having eight storeys which have different balls that sound different from each other. If we climb up to the tower we will definitely have strange experience because it is leaning at a sharp angle. The construction of this tower was started in 1173 i.e. nearly 800 years back. It was built on not very strong foundation. The soil was marshy clay so it was difficult for the land to resist so much of pressure and it started leaning only when three storeys were built as the force was increasing on land .Now the construction of tower was halted for approximately 100 years because of the war with Florence in 1178, again with Florence in 1185 and with Genoa in 1284. During this period the tilt in the tower was discovered and architects also thought to let the soil settle properly. After so many years its construction was again started and four more floors were built by Giovanni di Simone, the architect and attempts were made to compensate for the lean
