"Pisa" a Pisa Travel Page by Ekahau

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Pisa seems a little bit off. It might be because I'm an foreigner in Italy not used to the ways of the Italians. More likely, however, it's Pisa's Leaning Tower, which is slightly emblematic of the city's culture -- a bit off but beautiful and glorious because of it.

Construction on the Tower began in 1173 but was suspended at the completion of the third ring, in 1183, after the soil settled 30 to 40 centimeters (cm), and threw the tower out of the perpendicular. This caused the tower's original overhang of about 5 cm. More than a century after the foundation of the tower was laid, the second round of construction began. In 1275, Giovanni di Simone added three levels to the existing structure, correcting the axis of the Campanile (Leaning Tower). In 1284 six stories of loggias were finished, which brought the height of the building to 48 m. The builders attempted to diminish, at least optically, the effect of the sloping overhang by raising the galleries of the upper floors.
At the time of completion, the slope of the tower was more than 80 cm. But the torment and vicissitudes of the tower did not worry those embroiled in the construction. The long intervals between building activity were explained by describing the need to let the Campanile 'rest.' But despite the greatest of explanations, the facts remained that both the foundation and the ground on which it rested continued to settle, sinking slightly into the Italian soil. We got there the day the bell tower reopened. Luck for us all the cables were gone.

From its completion, the tower has served as grandstand for religious events and fairs. It rises 58 m above the foundation and 55 m over the level of the countryside, while its slope (measured from the foundation) is over 4 m.