The Leaning Tower
The Pisan Dome's tower does not only lean. It is, without a doubt, one of the most well known symbols of Italian art. Its oriental stylistic elements and the harmonic galleries would make the campanile an absolute masterpiece, if it were straight.
The most beautiful tower in Italy is 55 metres high and leans a few metres to the side.
Every year, it leans a few more millimetres to the side.
Campanile
Even Galileo Galilei was fascinated by the church tower, which leans to the side by approximately five degrees.
He used the Campanile on the Place of miracles for his first experiments with gravity.
Torre Pendente
Already at that time, the leaning tower, the Torre Pendente, stood at an angle due to the sandy ground on which it was built.
Not only the dome's tower had problems with the sand. The entire harbour of the former world power and city republic Pisa met its match due to the sand.
Sandy basis
The slant of the Campanile was present from the beginning, in the first period of its almost 200 year construction (1173-1352).
The Pisan ground proved to be very soft, too soft for such a large project as was later discovered.
Dangerous slant
Even with a lighter method of construction, the slant could not be compensated.
In the past few years, it has been possible to straighten the tourist magnet up slightly to stop it from collapsing.
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