Unknown Facts and History about Leaning Tower of Pisa

It was intended to build as a freestanding bell tower for the cathedral in Pisa

Tower construction began in the 12th century and was completed at the end of the 14th century.

Foundation credit for Pisa Tower goes to widow lady Donna Berta di Bernardo as the first stones used to form the base of the Tower were purchased with her money which she left to the Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie in 1172.

Gherardo di Gherardo, Bonanno Pisano, Giovanni Pisano, Giovanni di Simone are the architects and engineers who designed the leaning Tower of Pisa

Bonanno Pisano and Gherardo di Gherardo are the architects who constructed the first phase of Pisa Tower and the second phase of construction was continued by Giovanni Pisano and Giovanni di Simone. Tommaso Pisano finished the tower’s construction.

It is the third oldest building in the city's Piazza del Duomo after the cathedral and the Baptistery.

The original completed height of the Tower of Pisa is 60 meters but due to lean the height of the tower from the low side is 55.86 meters (183.27 feet) and 56.67 meters (185.93 feet) on the high side.

First, it began to lean in 1178 when construction on the 2nd floor had begun. The lean was caused by an inadequate foundation on the ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a circular shaped building with eight floors. There are 7 bells located on the eighth floor and each bell represents one note of the musical major scale.

Leaning Tower of Pisa has approximately 294 steps on the north side and 296 steps on the south side.

Along with the cathedral, cemetery and the baptistery, Leaning Tower of Pisa became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Due to Collapsed of Civic Tower of Pavia in 1989, the work of restoration was sped up for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The risk of collapse was seen to be too much of a danger to the public and it was decided to make the leaning tower of Pisa more stronger and stable by removing dirt from the ground and fill it with mortar and cement. In 1990 before restoration work, Pisa Tower leaned as much as 5.5 degrees and it is thought that the restoration will keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa stand for the next 300 years.

From the year 1989 to 2000 The tower was closed to the public domain for restoration work and finally, from 2001 the tower has been opened again to the public.

The tower weighs about 14,500 tons. That's a lot of weight for a building who is leaning and to have to support when it has been leaning since it was built.

According to engineers in 2008, the Tower had stopped moving. This is the first time in the history of Pisa Tower that it has not been slowly leaning further to one side.

Galileo Galilei has performed the experiments to study the equations for a falling body from the top floor of this tower.

During World War II, it was used by Germans as an observation post and once the Allies saw how beautiful the tower was they refrained from destroying it.

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Created on Feb 7th 2022 23:44. Viewed 188 times.

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