Leaning Tower of Pisa
Landmark
A bell tower that began to lean while it was still being built.
The tower of Pisa is the bell tower of the cathedral beside it. Building started in 1173, on soft ground. By the time the third floor was finished, one side was already sinking.
The builders carried on anyway, and it took almost two hundred years to finish. The tower is about 56 metres high and leans about four degrees. Around the year 2000 engineers straightened it a little, so that it would not fall.
- high
- 56 m
- it leans
- 4°
- building began
- 1173
- 1
The upper floors were built slightly curved, to try to make up for the lean.
- 2
For eleven years, from 1990, nobody was allowed inside while the tower was made safe.
- 3
It has almost 300 steps.
Question 1 of 2
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