The Leaning Tower Of Pisa

The Leaning Tower Of Pisa is the belltower of the Pisa Cathedral. Pisa was one of the important and powerful city states in Italian history, and the Pisa Duomo and its Nativity chapel or baptistry and belltower were part of the showing off of its power and wealth to its neighbouring city states and competition in general.

The red dome is that of the nativity chapel or battistero, the grey dome is that of the cathedral or duomo itself, and the belltower to the right is - as you can see - the Leaning Tower.

The Leaning Tower was begun built on August 9, 1173 and was under construction, with two long periods of inactivity along the way, for almost 200 years. The tower already began to lean during its construction. The first measurement of the angle is done in 1292. Today we know that the instability of the tower is due to its being built on very soft ground and an insufficient foundation into the ground.

The top or 7th. order of the tower was constructed sometime between 1260 and 1278, and, as you may have noticed, was built with a horisontal roof - the top order of the tower is not circular, but attempts to counter the inclination of the tower. The Leaning Tower was finally finished in 1360. However, it has never really been finished, as work to counter the effects of the soft ground and the inclination continues to this day.