These are particularly pronounced due to the tower's age and its exposure to wind and rain. The largest one was installed in 1655.Īfter a phase (1990–2001) of structural strengthening, the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visible damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical major scale. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the Romanesque style of the tower. The bell-chamber was finally added in 1372. Construction was halted again in 1284 when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. In 1272, construction resumed under Giovanni di Simone, architect of the Camposanto. In 1198, clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence. This was due to a mere three-metre foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. Like the Roman Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the seven wonders of the medieval world that is located in Italy. Construction was stopped for almost 100 years because the people of Pisa were often at war with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence. The design of this tower was bad from the beginning. This was because it had a small three-meter foundation in soft soil. When the second floor was built in 1178, the tower started to lean. The height of the tower is about 56 metres from the ground. On 26 April 2011, the last bit of scaffolding was removed so that the tower can be seen properly again. There was scaffolding all around the tower for 20 years. The tower was once leaning more and more to the ground, but recently much restoration work has been done to stop it from falling over completely. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a building in Pisa, Italy.

Quick facts for kidsLeaning Tower of Pisa

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