About Leaning Tower of Pisa

• How tall it was meant to be: One of the lesser-known Leaning Tower of Pisa facts is that the tower was meant to be 60 meters tall. Although, the unfortunate flaw in the design resulted in the tower’s leaning and the bell tower stands at 57 meters in height.

• The tower tilted: After the construction of the second floor, the tower started to tilt on one side due to the moist and clayey texture of the soil. However, the construction had to be paused for about 100 years due to the battle among Italian cities which strengthened the foundation over the years. It now stands with an exact tilt of 3.99 degrees.

• The height after tilting: Today, the height of the tower of Pisa is measured at 57 meters. The taller side of the tower is about 56.67 meters tall, and the shorter side has a height of 55.86 meters.

-The Leaning Tower of Pisa history dates back to the 12th century. Its construction started in 1711 and was completed after two centuries in 1372.

-The construction started to tilt once the second level was completed which was due to a design flaw on the part of the engineer.

• In 1990, the tower tipped to 5.5 degrees which was its maximum point of inclination. The Leaning Tower of Pisa history states that after several attempts made by engineers and architects to abstain from any further inclination, it now stands at a 3.99-degree tilt.

• There are 7 huge bells located inside the hollow bell tower and the heaviest bell weighs 3,600 kgs. None of the bells have been manually rung since the 20th century.

The architecture of the bell tower was designed as a part of the church complex in Piazza Dei Miracoli with four buildings. The complex included the main Church, baptistery, bell tower, and cemetery. The bell tower was designed in a circular shape that was supposed to stand perpendicularly. All the buildings of the complex are built with beautiful white marble with medieval Romanesque architecture. The original plan was to erect the bell tower at a height of 60 meters. However, due to the unrelenting inclination, the bell tower’s height remains at 57 meters.

The engineer responsible for overseeing the bell tower construction had little knowledge of soil mechanism which led to the tower’s tilt. It took almost 200 years to completely build the tower and was completed in two phases. The Leaning Tower of Pisa history credits many architectures for its completion, the first phase of the construction was handled by Bonanno Pisano & Gherardo di Gherado while the second phase is credited to Giovanni Pisano & Tommaso Pisano. Many stabilization measures were undertaken by the Italian government to straighten the tower and to ensure that it does not descend. There are 7 huge bells installed inside the Leaning Tower of Pisa that haven't been rung since the 20th century due to the possibility of a collapse.