Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa's Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) harbors some of Italy's most breathtaking architectural offerings: the baptistery, the cathedral and its bell tower, better know as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The offspring of architect Bonnano Pisano, the arcaded and cylindrical world famous "campanile" is eight story’s high, and home to 207 columns stacked in the form of a tall wedding cake. Built between 1174 and 1350, it bridges the latter medieval and early Renaissance period,, not only temporally, but in terms of art and architectural movements as well. One hundred seventy-seven feet high, and with a circumference of 154 feet, the Leaning Tower of Pisa constitutes for many an affront to gravity as it continues to tilt more than 18 feet off the perpendicular. Fourteen thousand tons of white marble were needed to erect this monumental tribute to the opulent and lavish that so defined the Romanesque style.

Built on virtual marsh land, the Tower began to sink during construction. The architects proceeded nonetheless. After all, there were still five storeys to build. To gradually straighten the structure up, the architects fashioned columns conspicuously taller for the inclined side of the lower. The noticeable alterations are featured from the fourth storey up.