THE LEANING TOWER OF
PISA
(one of the masterpiece of Medieval times)
Location: ITALY
FACTS
ABOUT
THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA
Height:
From the low side the
height of the tower is 55.86 metres (183.27 ft).
From the
high side the height of the tower is 56.70 metres (186.02 ft).
Width:
At the base of the
tower, the width of walls is 4.09 metres (13.42 ft).
At the
top of the tower, the width of walls is 2.48 metres (8.14 ft).
Weight:
The weight of the tower
is estimated to be 14,500 metric tons
(16,000 short tons).
No:
of Steps:
The tower has got 296
steps while seventh floor has got fewer steps.
THE LEANING TOWER OF
PISA
(one of the masterpiece
of Medieval times)
Description:
The leaning tower of Pisa is the campanile or free
standing bell tower in Pisa capital city of Italian province of Pisa and
district of Tuscany standing behind the cathedral and the third oldest
structure in Pisa’s Cathedral Square. This tower began leaning during its
construction whereas it was designed to be perfectly vertical. This leaning
became the reason for the tower to be famous in the world. This building is the
most remarkable architectural structure from medieval Europe regardless of the
characteristic of leaning. As far as its construction is concerned it lasted
for 177 years in three stages. Firstly on August 8 1173 A.D, work on the ground
floor of the white campanile got started. This floor is a blind arcade which
was articulated by columns with classical Corinthian capitals. The construction
of this tower halted for almost a century because of engagement of Republic of
Pisa in fighting battles which allowed the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise
the tower would have toppled. Later on some clocks on the third floor were
temporarily installed. This temporary installation took place in 1198 A.D. In
1272 Giovanni di Simone resumed its construction engineers at that time built
upper floors with one side taller than the other in order to overcome its
leaning shape. In 1284 Pisians were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of
Meloria which once again became the reason of halting the construction and in
1319, its seventh floor was completed which was built by Tommaso di Andrea
Pisano. There are seven bells each is for a note of the major music scale. The
installation of the largest one took place in 1655A.D while the bell chamber
was finally added in 1372. After the phase of structural strengthening lasted
from 1990 to 2001, the tower is now undergoing the process of surface
restoration for repairing the visual damage mostly caused by corrosion and blackening
which caused by the tower’s age and its exposure to wind and rain.
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