For over ten years, the Torre di Pisa had been surrounded by metal cabling. This measure was taken to prevent access to the tower by tourists during major repairs. The local government wanted to safeguard people’s safety and conserve the tower. Thirty million dollars was spent to restore the tower.
The tower was architecturally unsound due to soft soil and a shallow foundation. Because of the method of its construction, as soon as the third floor was completed, it started to lean. At that time, engineers had very few engineering resources at their disposal. Today, with ground penetrating radar, geological science, lasers, and huge cranes, the complex structural repairs would be expertly executed according to plan.
Contrary to popular belief, the bell tower was not the main attraction of the piazza. It was actually built for the nearby Cathedral Campo dei Miracoli. Both the Cathedral and the tower are remarkable examples of Romanesque art. A wall of approximately seven feet tall encloses the whole piazza where a light meal or just a rest stop can be taken inside piazza, where tables are available. One interesting feature is that the tower can be seen from all angles of the Piazza. Did you know that in Italy, even today, tourists and visitors must respect a dress code to enter places of worship? An example is that your knees and shoulders must be covered.
At the time, the construction of the tower was a well-planned dynamic structure. However, 800 years ago, it was common for projects like this to be flawed. There are similar instances in Germany, Ireland and else ware where there are towers and rectangular structures that lean slightly.
Nowadays, visitors are extremely curious to see the most remarkable bell tower in all of Europe. The base is to some extent very plain, but when looking a little farther up, one can admire extraordinary pillars. A discerning visitor can appreciate over ten types of stones used in building this structure. This gives the tower another characteristic enhancing its beauty.
Its construction came to a standstill for about 100 years. At the time, the Pisans were involved in battles against Genoa and other city-states. However, the construction began again in earnest in 1275 AD just before the belfry was to be added. In 1284 AD, the project was postponed once more due to civil unrest. Finally, in 1360 AD the tower was topped off at 167 feet.
If you look at the tower from a distance, observers can see that the tower not only leans but also curves. The builders attempted to offset the leaning by making some of the floors taller toward the top of the tower. They also removed 70 tons of earth from below ground and applied some knowledge of modern engineering in 2001 reopening the tower to the public.
Now, visitors can take a 35-minute guided tour without worrying about the lean. However, you must buy tickets for the tour and it is a good idea to buy your tickets well in advance, as it is a very popular attraction.
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