![]() I find it exhilarating, but it is also slightly disconcerting-and a good reason to take it slowly, especially coming back down when you get some speed behind you. Half the time, they're progressively tilting downward, then they start progressively tilting upwards again, then it reverses yet again. ![]() The slant got so dangerous by 1990 that officials closed the tower to visitors, wrapped steel bands around it to keep the shear forces from ripping apart the masonry, and stacked unattractive lead weights on one side to try to reverse the lean by a few feet.īy December, 2001 they deemed it safe enough to reopen to visitors-though if you expect to get in and climb to the top, you'd be wise to book ahead.įabulous views from the top of the Leaning Towe.The climb is a bit strange, since that famous tilt means none of the slick stone steps are really flat. Attempts to correct its tilt during construction gave it a slight banana curve. You can tell I took this photo of the long, winding staircase up the Leaning Tower on the downhill side, because the steps are worn toward the outside edge rather than in the middle, as they normally would be.The big engineering problem is that all that marble is too heavy for the shifty, sandy subsoil of Pisa, and it started listing right from the get-go in the 12th century. Its long cylinder of white marble threaded with the lithe arches of stacked colonnades make it one of the prettiest towers you'll ever see-albeit 15 feet out of plumb at the top. Pisa's cathedral campanile, or bell tower-far better know as the Leaning Tower-would draw crowds even if it didn't have such horrible posture. The Leaning Tower of Pisa (with the Cathedral behind it). ![]() Leaning Tower of Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa is world's most famous bell tower, and an icon of pizza boxes everywhere ![]()
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