PENDING TORRE

Unmistakable, unavoidable and majestic, the tower of Pisa, with its legendary inclination, is one of the most famous and most visited monuments in Europe. Dating back to 1173, it was begun by the architect and sculptor Bonanno Pisano (however, doubts remain as to the true identity of the designer...). Located to the right of the dome, on the Place des Miracles (which bears its name so well), it is THE symbol of the city, which always looks at you sideways! The tower is better known for its inclination (which increases by one millimeter per year), than for the elegance of its architecture... However, it is a superb Romanesque building, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which contains seven bells and eight floors of arcades vaulted with white marble. The famous leaning tower was originally intended to serve as a bell tower for the cathedral of Pisa.

From its height of 58.5 metres, the tower declined from its foundation in 1173 to collapse 4.5 metres from its vertical axis in 1372. The reason for this is the nature of the soil on which it is built. Pisa is located on an alluvial plain, the soil is soft, clayey and spongy. To remedy this, the four upper floors are laid diagonally to compensate for the inclination. The architects also built larger pillars in the south than in the north. The construction of the bell room follows the same logic: the heaviest bells are located on the north side. The projects to try to prevent the tower from collapsing one after the other... The bad tongues say that the Pisan authorities do everything they can to keep it leaning to attract the public (we talk about millions of tourists every year!).

The famous leaning tower was also used for experiments by the famous Galileo astronomer and physicist, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), from Pisa. The accounts say that he fired two cannonballs (of different weights) from the top of the tower to prove that their fall times were not related to their masses. Heavy and light objects fell at the same speed!