Questions and Answers

Why does the leaning tower of Pisa lean?

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 leaning of tower but it didn’t work much. Time passed on and attempts were continued to compensate the lean of tower like Benito Mussolini tried to strengthen the tower by filling concrete to the foundation but it all sunk in wet clay. The lean of tower has not stopped yet and is increasing one millimeter per year and now it’s leaning 14 feet out of the line. But some of the historians feel that this tower was intentionally made in this way to give uniqueness to the tower. There are many towers in the Italy that are leaning and they leaned after they were built but the tower at Pisa started leaning during its construction.

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