| What is it? |
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Torre Pendente, is a miraculously crooked belltower, which slants at a 4-degree angle! |
| What makes it historical? |
Originally, there was no lean in this tower when construction started in August of 1173. What the architects did not realize was that the soil underneath this tower was really loose! After five years of construction, the tower started to tilt! It surely would have toppled if Pisa hadn’t plunged into an almost century-long war with neighboring Genoa, Lucca, and Florence, pausing construction and allowing the base to settle. It was here that Galileo Galilei, a math professor at the University of Pisa, was believed to have dropped two spheres of different mass while he was formulating his law of free fall between 1589 and 1592!
No one is quite sure how long the Leaning Tower will continue leaning! Right now, it’s held up by a lot of lead counterweighs, and in fact, it’s been losing its lean over the last few decades! That means it’s currently safe to climb to the top, maybe for centuries to come! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? |
HERE’S HOW:
- Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
- Donate to the Opera della Primaziale Pisana!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
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| Where is this place? |
Piazza del Duomo, 17
56126 Pisa PI
Italy
From Firenze: ~54mi (87km) — 0.9hrs
From Napoli: ~344mi (554km) — 5.8hrs
From Roma: ~210mi (338km) — 3.5hrs
From Venezia: ~204mi (329km) — 3.4hrs |
| When should I go? |
The Tower is usually open daily from 8:30 AM until 8:00 PM, but that may fluctuate by a few hours on certain weekends or holidays! |
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