The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa is an interesting town to explore. Of course it's known for its leaning tower, and tourists flock from all over the world to see it. It's impossible to get pictures without them. The tower is impressive, but so are some of the other buildings. The tower is the third oldest structure remaining. The cathedral is the oldest and the baptistery is the second. The tower is a bell tower built near the other two to help with worship.

The tower stands 183 feet high and has 296 steps. It's estimated to weigh about 16,000 tons. It used to lean 5.5 degrees but was straightened some between 1990 and 2001 to keep it from completely falling. Now it leans at an angle of 3.6 degrees. There has been some controversy as to the architect, but most historian attribute it to Bonanno Pisano. Construction started in 1178 and ended in 1372.

Although the fact that the tower did not stay perpendicular as planned is interesting, I found the detail and the architectural designs of the buildings even more so. To my amateur eye, it almost looked like a mixture of Romanesque and Eastern architecture. Perhaps it has more to do with the time period in which it was built, however. Just look at some of the details --

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