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Also known as: Tower of Pisa
Also known as: The Bell Tower of Saint Mary
Built:
1173- 1350
Renovated: 1373
Renovated: 1838-40
Type: Tower
Stories: 8
Maximum height: 0
Location: Piazza dei Miracoli
City: Pisa
State: Tuscany
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nlike many great buildings of the time, the Tower of Pisa does not serve a practical purpose. Rather, it was constructed as a boastful statement to Pisa's nemesis, Florence. At the time, the two were the modern equivalent of today's "superpowers" and ruled much of the world through their control of the sea. The two were also bitter rivals, fighting for supremacy. In fact, construction of the tower was interrupted because of wars in 1178 with Florence, 1185 with Florence again, and in 1284 with Genoa, It was during one of these breaks in construction that the tower's infamous tilt was discovered. It was only three stories tall at the time, but rather than abandon the project, construction continued until the tower reached its full height of 58.36 meters when measured from its foundation, or just 55 meters when measured from the ground. It was at this early stage, too, that the tower first served its intended purpose -- the ringing of bells. Documents have survived that show that a bell was first placed at the top in 1198. When construction continued, it was replaced by seven bells at the top in 1350. There are two theories about why the tower leans.
The most popular reason is because of the unstable soil beneath. Its of 14,700 metric tons of grey San Giuliano limestone is simply too much weight for the ground to hold. The local soil is mostly marshy clay and the tower exerts a force of 497 kPa on it. But some historians don't think the lean was an accident. They believe it is an intentional architectural design that produced the tilt. However, recent measurements and analysis of the soil have put this school of thought in doubt. Over the centuries there have been a number of attempts to straighten out the tower. One try in 1934, concrete was pumped underneath the tower. Another in 1838 involved excavating the earth and drying out the ground the tower rests on.. Recently, a pair of suspenders were attached to lead weights and slung over the tower which helped a bit. Architecturally, the building is summed up thusly by its official web site:<br><br>
"The six arcades, the base on which they are placed and the belfry above them subdivide the Tower into eight segments, known as orders. The interior order is animated by a band of blind arches placed on half columns. Underneath the arches are lozenged rhomboid decorations inlaid with coloured marbles, each containing a rosette in relief at the centre. The wall facing is interrupted by narrow round-arched lancet windows and, to the west, by the only door of accessa rectangular opening framed by an architrave. Above the architrave a falcate arch with a carved archivolt rests upon two capitals in continuation of the piers, forming an aedicule containing a fourteenth-century bust of the Madonna and Child. At the sides of the portal there are friezes with decorations showing animals and imaginary beasts. These, alongside a singular representation of ships (the Pisan port?), accompany the epigraph which commemorates the foundation of the building. The cylindrical belfry which concludes the building, of a smaller diameter than the floors below, bears an external decoration composed of closed and pierced lunettes, which rest alternately on pedestals and columns, whereby under every pedestal (bearing two closed lunnettes) there is a door, while the single pierced lunnettes supported on columns are lengthened to form windows. The belfry is reached via a narrow spiral stair, and in turn allows access to the summit of the tower by way of a stair cut into the wall."
**The height of the tower varies over time, though it is usually around 183 feet tall.
**The architect of the tower is unknown. However, it is believed that Bonanno Pisano and Guglielmo of Innsbruck, Austria may have designed it, or possibly Diotisalvi.
**Precise location: 43°43'0" N x 10°22'60" E.
**Construction began August 9, 1173.
**There is an inscription at the entrance which reads "A.D. MCLXXIV. CAMPANILE HOC FUIT FUNDATUM MENSE AUGUSTI" (In the month of August, A.D. 1174, this bell tower was founded.)
**It is said that Berta of Bernardo was the impetus behind the tower. Legend has it that when she died on 5 January, 1172 in her will she left 60 coins to pay for the first building blocks of the tower.
**There are 293 steps to the sixth arcade.
**August, 1173: Construction begins.
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