The Story Of The World's Most Famous Tilt 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is recognized globally for its unique structure. We aren't used to seeing towers that look like they're falling over nor do we usually think to climb them. Despite its mighty lean, visitors enter the building every day, fascinated by its beauty and its history. If you're one of those curious spectators, here's all you need to know about the world's most famous tilt:

Rp2006 on Wikimedia

1. The Story Behind The Lean

The tower is most famous for its lean but what caused it to lean in the first place? The Leaning Tower of Pisa can thank its fame for the marshland it stands upon. Disregarding the fact that the terrain is marshy land, architects built a tall structure on it anyway with a shallow 3-meter foundation to support it. The soft earth simply can’t support the tower to stand straight.  

schmidmatthieu on Pixabay

2. One Of The Seven Wonders Of The World

Although the current tower is a reproduction of the medieval original, it was declared as one of the Seven Wonders of the World at one point. The tower is astonishing due to its massive size, stunning Roman architecture, and of course, its charismatic lean. 

en:User:Slof on Wikimedia

3. Not Meant To Stand Alone

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was never intended to be a standalone structure. It wasn’t even the main attraction–– it was the last building to be constructed in a 5-piece cathedral complex. The cathedral, bell tower, baptistery, and cemetery make up the sacred site.  

Julie Clarke on Unsplash

4. Sinking Cathedral

The tower isn’t the only part of the complex that is slowly sinking. Due to the marshy soil, the cathedral and baptistry are also sinking more into the ground as time passes by and gravity weighs them down. Sods of soil were transported from Jerusalem but it wasn’t enough to stop the sinking.   

Sophia Fries on Unsplash

5. Lengthy Building Time

Architects weren’t prepared for the many obstacles and complications that they ran into during construction. Building was put on hold for almost a century after the third floor was built and the tower began to lean. In the end, it took a quick 199 years to complete the tower.   

CyArk, https://www.cyark.org/data-use-policy on Wikimedia

6. Poor Soil Mechanics

John Burland was the engineer in charge of the Leaning Tower of Pisa but he wasn’t a soil mechanic expert. At least he admitted that soil mechanics was his worst subject during his university studies but it wasn’t until after he created the sketchy blueprints. Fortunately, he changed career paths and other engineers took over, ultimately saving the tower from collapsing.   

Wojsyl on Wikimedia

7. Tilt Direction Changes

There was one point in time when the tower switched directions. After many attempts to rid the lean altogether, the tower gradually tilted from south to north. By the construction of the seventh floor, the tower’s lean shifted back to the south and has been that way ever since.

Èric Teixidó on Unsplash

8. Mussolini’s Impact On The Lean 

The founder of fascism hated the tower! He thought the tower's tilt was a national disgrace and ordered his ideas to “fix it”. With his poor construction methods, the base became too heavy, causing the tower to tilt even more than it did before.  

Roger-Viollet on Wikimedia

9. More Time, More Lean

The tilting began when the tower was only three stories tall. With more levels added and more time, the lean has gradually increased over the years. In the 1990s, the tower was considered at its most crucial tilting point. 

Greg Willis from Denver, CO, usa on Wikimedia

10. Current Stability

Despite its continuous tilting and construction attempts to straighten it up, the tower is clarified as a stable structure. Modern engineers have leveled the soil and introduced anchoring mechanisms to keep it secure. They’re confident enough to claim that the tower should stand sturdy for another 200 years.  

christoph_s on Pixabay

11. Future Tilt

Despite the tower’s new and improved design and stability, it’s still expected to lean once again. Experts predict that The Leaning Tower of Pisa will slowly start tilting again in the early 23rd century.  

Marco Ceschi on Unsplash

12. More Leaning Towers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa receives all the fame but other nearby structures have a similar lean. Besides the rest of its complex, neighboring buildings were built on the same soft soil. For instance, the Church of St. Michele degli Scalzi was built around the same time and shares the same fate. 

Nigel Mykura  on Wikimedia

13. International Leaning Towers

Pisa’s tower may be the most recognized crooked structure in the world but it’s not the most predominant one. Other towers across the globe have out-leaned it including the Leaning Tower of Surhuusen and the 14th century church Oberkirche.

Michelle_Raponi on Pixabay

14. The Inauthentic Tower Bells

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in fact a bell tower with seven giant bells on top. Each of the bells corresponds with the seven musical notes. The original process of ringing the bells involves ropes and has been forbidden because they cause damaging vibrations. Today, electronic hammers are specially designed to ring the bells.      

Jordiferrer on Wikimedia

15. UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. Since then, the entire complex has belonged to UNESCO and is managed as a tourist attraction. They intend to preserve its Italian heritage and architecture forevermore. 

Wikicommons By Mouagip

16. Closure For A Decade

In 1990, when scientists detected that the tower was in great danger of collapsing, the tower was closed to the public. Repairs began and reconstruction took place, taking almost a decade to complete. The tower reopened to visitors in 2001 when it was considered safe again to enter.   

Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

17. A Place To Show Off

In the 12th century, Pisa thrived in military, political, and commercial importance which made the city a powerhouse. The government decided they needed a place to display all of their treasures. Showing off their wealth was in mind for design and Pisa’s cathedral complex was born.    

Nicola Fittipaldi on Unsplash

18. Saved By War & Debt

Generally, violent war and insufficient funds make everything worse. Fortunately for the tower, that was not the case. Since the building process of the tower had to be put on hold multiple times due to battles and lack of money, the soil was given time to compress. Alas, we could argue that these hard times helped the tower to survive.  

Олег Мороз on Unsplash

19. Allies Intended To Destroy It 

Orders were in place for the American army to destroy all buildings in Italy that had potential as a lookout point for enemies. Opposing snipers often used the tallest buildings for their lookouts. Despite knowing all of this, the beauty of the Leaning Tower of Pisa impressed the Allies so much that couldn’t bear to tear it down.   

ww

Cassowary Colorizations on Wikimedia

20. The Tilty Climb 

If you trust the new engineering, you can climb to the top of the tower. Hundreds of tourists climb the famous diagonal tower every day and it remains sturdy.  With a long history of repairs, it’s no surprise that the tower’s architecture is monitored very closely. 

Benjamín Núñez González on Wikimedia