The
Leaning Tower of Pisa is also known as the "Bell Tower". It is situated
in the centre of Pisa, Italy at the mouth of the Arno River,
10 km inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in west central Italy's Tuscany Region.
It's one of Italy's oldest towns, with Etruscan origins going back 3,000
years. It is a popular tourist attraction.
The
construction of the tower began in 9th August 1173. When the construction
reached about one meter and half of the third floor, because of marshy
and unstable soil, it leaned fearfully, so the works were suspended.
The structure was nevertheless completed from the years 1360 to 1370.
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The
purpose of building the bell tower is to stand as a cathedral and a baptistery
in the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), which is in the centre of Pisa.
Besides that, the people in Pisa wanted to show off their capabilities
to their great enemy - Florence.
1. The
Leaning Tower of Pisa had to be closed to visitors beginning in 1990 because
the tower was structurally unstable. Because of its lean, the Bell Tower
looks like as if it dares the laws of gravity.
2. The Tale
of Galileo and the Tower of Pisa: The story goes that in order to demonstrate
to Aristotelian scholars that two
balls of different weights fall at the same rate, Galileo dropped
a
cannon ball and wooden ball from the top of the Tower of Pisa.
3. In 1934, ballast was pumped
into the foundation masonry, only serving to push the tower further, while
an attempt to freeze the surrounding earth and limit its vibration in 1995
sent it lurching 2.5 mm (0.09 inches) in one night - around 10% of
the lean that the commission had corrected since 1990.
4.Experts say that if the 800 year
old Tower isn't "rescued," it will collapse within the next 20 years.
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For
more information, please refer to the following site:
http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/ltpisa/ltpisa.html
http://www.xs4all.nl/~pisa0/index1.html
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