The Leaning Tower of Pisa

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Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, also known as the Torre Pendente di Pisa, known for its renowned work of art is located in Pisa, Italy. The mastermind behind this historically significant masterpiece is the famous architect, Bonanno Pisano. The tower is in the shape of a circle, which was first constructed on August 9th, 1173, measuring about 185 feet (56 meters). Originally, the tower was designed to have eight stories; however, within the year of 1773, many problems occurred, causing only three of the eight stories to be completed. Due to a war which occurred, the building was incomplete. The war broke out among the Italian city-states, and construction was halted for almost a century (www.brittanica.com). This pause allowed the tower’s foundation to settle and likely prevented its early collapse (www.brittanica.com). Because of the pause, the rest of the stories were completed during 1319. There were two pauses between the constructions of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, first for 100 years, and the other occurred in 1284. Both of the pauses took place because of wars. The tower began to lean on one side due to the soft ground underneath the building; problems arose when the weight of the tower couldn’t be supported by the ground. In modern time, the famous masterpiece would’ve been 840 years old (www.softschools.com). The tower is a freestanding bell, famous for the settling of its foundation, causing it to lean 5.5 degrees to one side. However, over time, many operations were done, trying to straighten the tower, yet it only straightened out by less than 4.0 degrees. However, the lean became worse as construction continued for several decades. Gratefully, the lean was stabilized and partially fixed between 199...

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