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The Leaning tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) (1360) — freestanding bell tower (campanile), part of ensemble of city cathedral Santa Maria Majore in Italian city Pisa, became famous since it is not vertical but leaning. Tower “falls”.
The height of the tower is 55.86 m from the ground on lowest side and 56.70 m on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09m and at the top 2.48m. Its weight is estimated at 14700 tonnes. The tower leans at an angle of 5.5 degrees (deflection of approximately 4.5 m from vertical). The tower has 294 steps.
Construction:
Construction of the tower was carried out in three stages. Starting from August 9, 1173 and with two lengthy interruptions, the construction work continued for almost 200 yrs till 1360. Tower is considered as bell tower of catholic cathedral Campo dei Miracoli (Cathedral Square). There has been controversy about the real identity of the architect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Undoubtedly, tower is one of the wonderful bells of Europe. Earlier, it was considered that the leaning of tower was part of the design but now that version is refuted. The tower was designed to be “vertical” but as the construction of the tower progressed, the tower began to sink and thus the “tilt” appeared.
Right from 1173 till date, the tower is an object of rapt attention owing to its leaning and as well as to its original architecture. Constantly measures are being taken to make the tower more stable. For example, damaged pillars were replaced time and again. Currently, tower is undergoing gradual underground works to strengthen the foundation.
Doors of the tower were again reopened for the tourists on December 15, 2001.
Experiments of Galileo Galilei:
A legend prevails that Galileo Galilei has carried out experiments to demonstrate that the acceleration of a freely falling object is independent of its mass. He dropped objects of different masses from the top of Leaning Tower of Pisa and later on described the fall of objects. Evidently, in reality, Galilei had carried out similar experiments but most probably, the experiments did not have any connection with the tower in Pisa.
World heritage UNESCO, Object № 395
On December 30, 1986, UNESCO conferred World Heritage status to architectural ensemble (cathedral (Piazza del Duomo), baptistery, bell tower (Leaning Tower of Pisa) and cemetery).
Architecture of ensemble had a significant influence on monumental art of Italy XI—XIV hundred years.
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Italian Prime Minister has formed a special commission, including some
international members, to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa from
collapsing. As he mentioned the famous tower is like a fragile masonry
built on a piece of jelly, and the engineering project to save this
Italian treasure for Italy, tourists and the future generations, poses
many challenges and will require a substantial effort and finances.
