Torre pendente di Pisa / The Leaning Tower of Pisa
N 43° 43.380 E 010° 23.798
32T E 612493 N 4842055
In the historic heart of town Pisa at Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) you can find probably the most famous world's bellfry, a part of UNESCO Word Heritage Site, Torre pendente di Pisa (The Leaning Tower of Pisa)
Waymark Code: WM6Z82
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 08/09/2009
Views: 82
Probably the most famous world's bellfry was constructed in 1174 in unique Pisan-Romanesque style, at a time when the Pisans were enjoying an era of military success. Torre pendente di Pisa (Leaning Tower of Pisa), located in Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), is famous not only because of its striking marble beauty, but also because of its awkward geometry.
Torre pendente served as the bell tower of the equally impressive Duomo di Pisa (Pisa Cathedral) and Battistero (Baptistery), and, as a result of the poor swampy soil beneath, has leaned almost since construction first started. Today, one side is 5 m closer to the ground than the other.
Galileo Galilei used the tower for experiments to prove his theory of motion whilst he was chair of mathematics at the Università di Pisa (Pisa University) in 1589.
The Torre pendente di Pisa is equipped by 7 bells tuned to musical scale:
1st bell: L'assunta, cast in 1654 by Giovanni Pietro Orlandi, weight 3620 kg
2nd bell: Il Crocifisso, cast in 1572 by Vincenzo Possenti, weight 2462 kg
3rd bell: San Ranieri, cast in 1719-1721 by Giovanni Andrea Moreni, weight 1448 kg
4th bell: La Terza (1st small one), cast in 1473, weight 300 kg
5th bell: La Pasquereccia or La Giustizia, cast in 1262 by Lotteringo, weight 1014 kg
6th bell: Il Vespruccio (2nd small one), cast in the 14th century and again in 1501 by Nicola di Jacopo, weight 1000 kg
7th bell: Dal Pozzo, cast in 1606 and again in 2004, weight 652 kg