Biography of the Pisan Tower

Despite these fluctuations, the tower, which is actually a bell tower, has already stood for more than six and a half centuries after the end of its construction. How does the design behave now? What work is carried out today to strengthen the tower? And how much more the Pizan tower can stand, according to restorers? Read about this in our article by the Pisa Tower - one of the most famous architectural attractions not only in Italy, but also in the world.

It is part of a complex of religious buildings located on the Miracles Square Piazza Dei Miracoli in the Italian city of Pisa. The complex consists of four buildings: the cathedral, Baptisteria, crypt and the tower itself. The construction of this architectural ensemble was planned to emphasize the power of the Pisan Republic, which was in the XII century the first marine power in modern Italy.

But the Pizan tower became famous not so much thanks to its architectural features, but because of the mistake of the builders, which significantly influenced its appearance. The reason for the inclination of the Pisa tower is the soil on which it is erected. The builders did not take into account that there is soft clay under the tower, moreover, very susceptible to the level of groundwater.

And in the year, on this unreliable basis, the first floor with blind arches and fifteen columns made of white marble with classic capitals was erected. At first, the Pizan tower was built quite quickly, and by the year three more floors appeared. By the time of their completion, the design, weighing 9.5 tons, was already noticeably tilted, which was due to which the work had to be interrupted for a hundred years.

During this time, the soil on the one hand was compacted much more than on the other. As a result, the Pisan tower even changed the direction of inclination from North to South. And the construction of this eight -story building was completed only in the year. The Pizan tower is two concentric cylinders, between which there is a spiral staircase in the steps, leading to the upper floor - to seven bells.

This stone structure is hollow inside, and its inner and outer surfaces are faced with white marble. The outer side of each tier is an open gallery of fifteen arches. The arches are composed of columns with classic capitals. This solution of the facade visually unites the tower with the building of the Cathedral. The Pizan tower weighs more than 14.5 thousand tons, and its upper point is at an altitude of 56.7 m.

Over time, the slope of the tower continued to increase until it reached a critical mark in the year. Then it was decided to close the object for tourists and conduct large -scale restoration work. To stabilize the Pizan tower, a variety of measures were taken, including the installation of lead counterweights on the north side of the structure. But the greatest success was achieved thanks to the replacement of the soil from its base using a system of special pipes.

Given the complexity of the work, the soil was pumped literally by millimeter. In the year, the Pizan tower was again open for tourists.

And according to the estimates of restorers, at least in the next three hundred years of the risk of collapse will not arise. Ru based on materials: Torrepisa. Ru