It really leans, and it's cooler than you might think. Although it's not one of the new 7 wonders of the world, it certainly has been considered a wonder for centuries.
Begun in 1174, by 1275 it was already leaning to the south by about seven inches. In an effort to correct this, the site manager tried making the columns on the south side taller than those on the north. It didn't work, and the angle of incline steadily increased. Numerous attempts to halt the process were, for the most part, failures. But today the tower has been stabilized and tilts 17 feet one inch from vertical, measured from the top of the belfry. There is a great deal of scientific explanation of all this and probably more than you ever wanted to know about the latest renovations (completed in 2000) at the Tower and also online at the Official Leaning Tower website.
But I think there's more interesting things to learn about this amazing building. First of all, it's a campanile, or bell tower, and it houses seven bells that are tuned to the seven notes of the musical scale. The bells all have names, and the largest two are no longer rung for fear their swinging will cause damage to the walls.
Then, although the official literature states that the tower is approximately 183 feet tall and weighs about 14,500 tons, I was fascinated to learn some different measurements. In his not-so Brief History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Piero Pierotti explains that the medieval Pisans believed in the magical significance of numbers. And so, the height of the Tower is exactly 100 bracci Pisani (Pisan arms), which is the equivalent of 20 pertiche Pisani (Pisan staffs). The circumference measures exactly 100 piedi Pisani (Pisan feet). These "human" measurements were very useful in the days when modern tools and devices were unknown.
It is said that Galileo dropped two cannon balls of different masses from tower to demonstrate his theory that speed is independent of mass. This may or may not have actually occurred.
It is true, however, that in 1934 Mussolini wanted the tower returned to a vertical position. Why, I can't imagine. He ordered concrete poured into its foundation, but the result was that the tower sank further.
It's also true that during WWII, the Allied forces learned that the Nazis were using it as an observation post, and that a US army sargeant made a decision not to call for an artillery strike which saved the monument from destruction.
But more important, at least to me, than all of this is the fact that the Leaning Tower is a beautiful
structure. Unlike most square Tuscan bell towers, it's a cylinder with an empty core, wrapped in slender
columns that are decorated at the top with fantastic figures and and nature motifs. It is dazzling white in the sunshine, elegant, and lovely.
We'll visit Pisa and see the Tower on Time of Your Life Tour's Tastes of Tuscany Tour next fall. It takes a great deal of stamina and a special reservation to climb the 294 steps to the top, but you can get great pictures right from the ground.
The Tower is just one of the gorgeous sights in the Campo dei Miracoli that we'll visit. I'll tell you more about those soon.
