Tower of Pisa

La Torre di Pisa (Opera Primaziale Pisana)

The Bell tower or Tower of Pisa. It is curious that a bell tower that does not even bear the name of its creator has become, thanks to its lean, the most famous monument in the world. Sometimes 'mistakes are necessary, useful as bread and often also beautiful: for example the tower of Pisa' (Gianni Rodari). 1173 was the starting year of the construction works for a column made of columns (Rudolf Borchardt), circular like the Baptistery and visible from all over the Pisan plain. After the first subsidence, five years after the laying of the first stone and after numerous attempts to correct its inclination by Giovanni di Simone, in the eighties of the fourteenth century the construction was completed by Tommaso Pisano. Finally the Cathedral had its bell tower. The lean became more and more threatening over the centuries and from 1990 to 2001 the tower was subjected to major consolidation works. Thanks to a commission of scientists from all over the world, the project was developed in two main phases: the first involved the aid of lead counterweights and steel cables, the second the extraction of clay and sand on the side opposite the slant, which allowed a slight subsidence of about half a meter. The result obtained has brought the slant of the tower back to about three centuries ago.