The Tilting Tower (1173 AD)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Torre pendente di Pisa in Italian, is a freestanding bell tower (campanile) of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. The tower stands behind the Cathedral as the third structure in Pisa’s Campo dei Miracoli (“Field of Miracles”).
The tower’s construction began in 1173, and it was intended to stand vertically as the Cathedral’s bell tower. However, before the structure was even finished, the poorly laid foundation causing the tower to begin leaning during construction. The tower itself was built in three successive stages, the entire process taking around 174 years. The bottom floor was built using white marble, and construction was led by Bonanno Pisano, a twelfth-century artist. The first floor is surrounded by pillars with classical-style capitals and arches.
Inside the tower, there is a winding staircase which leads to the top floor, a bell terrace. Before their removal due to weight concerns in 1990, the tower was home to seven bells dating from the 17th to 19th century. It was from this upper terrace that Italian scientist Galileo Galilei is said to have dropped two cannonballs of differing weights, in order to demonstrate that their descending speed was independent of their mass.
On the lowest side, the tower is 55.86m high, and 56.70m on this highest side. The spiral staircase inside has 294 steps.
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