The Leaning Tower of Pisa Interesting Facts

The Tower of Pisa , Italy's Favorite Tourist Attraction

      Italy is a country located on the European continent, precisely on the southern European continent, which in addition to producing a lot of world-class players, there are also many tourist destinations that you must visit. Italy is also famous for having several collections of very classic architecture and is known for its extraordinary architectural achievements.

Pizza de Miracolli is a square located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy. This square is a park where part of the land is cement and the other is grass. Inside the square there are as many as 4 buildings, all of which are very famous buildings, uniquely the four buildings have or are dominated by white color.

These towers are the Duomo (Cathedral), Baptisery, Camposanto, and of course the most famous tower or building of all, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Tower of Pisa has become like a landmark in the city of Pisa and has made the city square the most sought after and eagerly awaited tourist destination by tourists from all over the world.

The History of The Tower of Pisa

The construction of the Tower of Pisa began in August 1173. Five years later, it was realized that the building was tilting. The occurrence of the slope was realized by a worker who was on duty to build the second floor. The leaning of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is caused by the 3 meter high foundation and unstable underground layer, so it cannot support the weight of the building. Giovanni di Simone, the architect responsible for the construction of the Tower of Pisa, attempted to circumvent the slope. He outsmarted it by creating a new floor that was a little higher on the short side. 

However, the decision caused the structure of the Tower of Pisa to sink even further. In fact, the slope worsened after its construction was completed in the 14th century, in 1372 to be exact. The tower was built for approximately 200 years. The project to build the Tower of Pisa was slow because it was in the midst of an onslaught of war that lasted for decades.

There are many interesting facts about the Tower of Pisa that are still rarely known to people. See the facts below.

1. The height of the Tower of Pisa has decreased by about 4 meters from its initial height

The Tower of Pisa was originally 60 meters tall. As each year continues to move, the current height of the Tower of Pisa is 56.67 meters at its highest slope and 55.86 meters at its lowest slope.(Wikipedia)

The height of the Tower of Pisa is indeed not fixed and always follows its movements. Even though it keeps moving, it doesn't harm the construction of the Tower of Pisa.

2. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is not the only tower

Because of the fame of its name, many people think that the Tower of Pisa is the only leaning tower in the world. Whereas there are several other towers around the Tower of Pisa which are also tilted.

The slope of the towers is influenced by the soil structure in the Pisa city area which tends to be less dense. The towers are The Bell Tower in the Church of St. Michele dei Scalzi and The Bell Tower at St. Church Nicola.

3. The buildings around the Leaning Tower of Pisa are also tilting

Not only the other towers around the Leaning Tower of Pisa, other buildings such as the Cathedral of Pisa and the Baptistery of Pisa also tilted.

The reason for the tilt of the two buildings must be because the buildings are in the same area as the Tower of Pisa, an area with a less dense soil texture.

4. Leaning due to construction error

The founders of the Tower of Pisa were not aware that the land on which the leaning tower was built was a swampy area where the soil wasn't dense. In addition, the foundation of the Tower of Pisa is composed of sand, clay and sediment from the Arno and Serchio Rivers in Tuscany which is not strong enough to hold a building as tall as Pisa.

Some time after the construction started, they realized the mistake. However, they did not care and continued to build the tower which eventually stood not perpendicular.

5. The building process took more than 200 years

The Tower of Pisa began to be built in August 1173. However, the construction did not go as smoothly as expected. In that year there were many wars and other problems such as the poor economy that hampered the construction of the Tower of Pisa.

This leaning tower was finally completed in 1399, which means that the construction process took more than 200 years.

6. Continue to tilt until 2008

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was initially only 0.2 degrees. Over time, the tower continued to tilt up to 5.5 degrees until 1990. That's why the same year the Tower of Pisa was closed to the public and reopened in 2001.

The Italian government and experts continue to make repairs and repair the tower foundation so that it does not continue to tilt which might destroy the tower.

Since 2008, the Tower of Pisa has been reported to have stabilized and stopped moving. However, this does not guarantee that the Tower of Pisa will not move again. According to experts, the current stability of the Tower of Pisa will only last up to 200 years.