Overview
The Tower That Shouldn't Still Be Standing
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Construction of the Torre di Pisa began in 1173 and stopped after three floors when the soft subsoil started to give way and the tower began leaning. It remained unfinished for nearly 100 years while Pisa fought wars with its neighbours. When construction resumed in 1272, the engineers tried to correct the lean by building the upper floors slightly taller on one side — which actually made things worse by shifting the centre of gravity. The tower was finally finished in 1372, after 199 years of construction.
By the 20th century the lean had reached 5.5 degrees and the tower was in genuine danger of collapse. Between 1990 and 2001, an international team of engineers removed 77 tonnes of soil from the high side of the base, reducing the lean to a "safe" 3.97 degrees and extending the tower's life by at least 200 years. The lean will very slowly reduce further over time — the tower is, paradoxically, getting straighter.
The Field of Miracles
More Than One Tower
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The Piazza dei Miracoli (Campo dei Miracoli) is UNESCO World Heritage listed as an ensemble — the Tower, the Cathedral, the Baptistery, and the Camposanto (the monumental cemetery) form one of the greatest concentrations of Romanesque architecture in Europe. All four are extraordinary; the Tower just gets all the attention.
The Cathedral (Duomo)
Begun 1064, it predates the Tower by over a century. The alternating black and white marble striped interior was influential throughout Tuscany — you'll see its echo in Siena's Duomo. Inside: a bronze lamp by Galileo (legend has it watching it swing inspired his pendulum experiments) and Pisano's pulpit with dramatic narrative reliefs.
The Baptistery
The largest in Italy. Begun 1152, the Gothic upper levels were added a century later by Nicola Pisano, who also made the pulpit inside. The acoustic design means a single voice singing creates a chord — ask one of the guards to demonstrate (they usually do).
The Camposanto
The monumental cemetery — a rectangular cloister of extraordinary proportions, allegedly built over soil brought from Golgotha (Jerusalem) by a crusading archbishop. The walls were covered in frescoes including the remarkable Triumph of Death (14th century). Many were destroyed in a 1944 bombing; the sinopie (underdrawings) are displayed in a separate museum.
Practical Details