Leaning Tower of Pisa

100 Places to See Before You Die!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Branelle on the "Field of Miracles"

Italy's most famous building, the precarious structure known as the "Leaning Tower"  is actually the bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral which sits next to it in the Campo dei Mirocoli (meaning "Field of Miracles").  It was obviously never intended to lean, but the Pisans learned almost immediately when they started construction in 1173 that you just can't stack that much heavy marble on top of shifting subsoil and keep it straight.  After the first three levels were completed, construction stopped for nearly 100 years before Giovanni di Simone oversaw the addition of four more levels in 1272.  He built the sections with an intentional curve in an effort to correct the lean, giving the tower its banana shape - which is very clear when you see it in person.  Work stopped again until 1372 when the belfry was added to complete the tower at about 167 feet in height.

Just do it - everybody does!

Over the years many stabilization projects have been attempted with little success.  In 1934 Benito Mussolini organized an effort that involved pouring concrete into the foundations that actually made the tower lean even more.  The tower goes through stages of being open and closed to the public depending on current attempts to stabilize it and other factors.  It was closed from 1990 untill 1997 but is currently back open for visitors to climb - albeit in limited numbers.  The current lean is about 15 feet out of plumb.

The curvature shows up much more in person, as does the amount of lean - it really does look like it's going over any minute!

It is said that in 1590, Galileo used the tower to demonstrate his theory of gravity by dropping wooden balls of different sizes off the side.  The tower almost met its end during WWII when it was strapped with dynamite by the US Army because a German sniper had taken up a post inside.  The story is that the Americans decided at the last minute to just leave it and go around rather than destroy such a historic structure, especially since the Italian people had joined the allies after the overthrow of Mussolini.

A visit to the leaning tower involves heading to the western coast of Italy and the town of Pisa.  Quite frankly, other than a stop to see the tower, I wouldn't recommend spending too much time in Pisa.  It's not terrible, but there are much better cities in Italy to sight see in, such as Florence just down the road.  Visitor parking for the "Field of Miracles" is about a 15 minute walk through what I would call "sketchy" neighborhoods.  Don't worry though, you won't be alone as busloads of tourists are constantly walking the same path.  When you near the wall that outlines the site you will start to see rows of stalls selling fantastic kitschy souvenirs - much of it leaning.  Resist the temptation to shop until after you've toured the piazza.

 

The entire site is fairly open so crowds aren't a huge problem, but if you have any ideas about actually climbing the tower you'd better purchase tickets ahead of time, especially in the summer.  Take the time to check out the other buildings in the Piazza del Duomo:  The Baptistry, the Duomo, and the Cemetery.  Take all the silly pictures you want.  Don't be shy.  You think you'll feel like an idiot pretending to hold up the leaning tower or push it over or…whatever you can think of, but trust me, EVERYBODY does it.  When you're through gazing at the immense marble mistake(?), hit the souvenir shops.  They sell everything you can think of that leans (we went with salt and pepper shakers) and a lot of things that are of questionable taste - but hilarious!

Don't miss the souvenir shops - you couldn't if you wanted to.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa makes just about every list of "things to see", or "wonders of the world".  It has to be one of the most recognizable structures on the planet.  It's not the prettiest site in the world, but it's one of those things that you'll be glad you saw.