The Cathedral (Duomo) is dedicated to St. Mary of the Assumption and was founded in 1064.
The construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began in
August 1173. It was interrupted several times by wars, debt and while
engineers worked on solutions to correct the lean. We now know that without these interruptions that allowed
the soil to compress under the tower, it would have certainly toppled over. Pisa Tower was eventually completed in the mid-1300s.
Why does the Tower of Pisa lean?
The leaning of the Tower of Pisa comes into the story in
1173, when construction began.
Thanks to the soft ground, it had begun to lean by the time
its builders got to the third story, in 1178. Shifting soil had destabilised
the tower’s foundations.
Over the next 800 years, it became clear the 55-metre tower
wasn’t just learning but was actually falling at a rate of 1-2mm per year.
Today, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is more than five meters
off perpendicular. The lean, first noted when three of the tower’s eight
stories had been built, resulted from the foundation stones being laid on soft
ground consisting of clay, fine sand and shells. The next stories were built slightly taller on the short
side of the tower in an attempt to compensate for the lean. However, the weight
of the extra floors caused the edifice to sink further and lean more.
Of course, it has to be done!
Baptistery
Medieval City Walls of Pisa. Construction began in 1154.
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