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 There
are so many wonderful buildings in the world. The Tower of Pisa is
one of them. You can see it if you visit the Italian city of Pisa.
This week, let's visit Italy to learn more about the amazing tower!
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower.
It is located behind the cathedral of the Italian
city of Pisa. The height of the tower is 55.86
meters from the ground on the lowest side, and 56.70 meters on the
highest side. The width of the walls at the
base is 4.09 meters, and at the top 2.48 meters. It weighs about 14,500
tons. The tower has 294 steps. The tower leans at an angle of 5.5 degrees.
Construction of the bell
tower began on August 9, 1173. The Tower of Pisa was a work of art. It took about
200 years to complete the tower. But people don't know who the builder of the tower is.
Many people believe Bonanno Pisano designed it. He was a well-known artist of Pisa
in the 12th Century.
In 1178, the tower began to lean after construction progressed to the third floor. It was due to a poorly laid foundation. The subsoil was weak. This means
the design was wrong from the beginning. Due to
many wars, construction was stopped for almost 100 years. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle.
In 1272, construction began again. To make the leaned tower straight, the engineers built higher floors
with one side taller than the other. This made the tower begin to
lean in the other direction. Because of this,
the tower is actually curved. The seventh floor
was completed in 1319. The bell-chamber was not finally added until 1372. There are
seven bells, one for each note of the musical scale. The largest
one was put in 1655.
In 1964, the government of Italy decided to prevent
the tower from falling. The tower was closed to the public in January
1990. While the tower was closed, many engineers, mathematicians and
historians worked hard to make the tower straight. In December 2001,
the tower was reopened to the public. The tower has been declared
safe for at least another 300 years. In 1987, the tower was declared
as part of the Piazza dei Miracoli UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
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