My last batch of photos of Pisa is here!
For those who wonder why the tower is leaning, here is the answer.
The tower was built on soft ground - a mixture of clay, fine sand and shells. When the third story was reached in 1178, the shifting soil caused destabilization of its three-meter-deep foundations.
After a 100-year break, construction resumed with four additional floors. Architect Giovanni di Simone had an idea: Make one side of those floors shorter than the rest. But it didn't work and made matters even worse.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa kept falling at a rate of one or two millimetres per year. Finally, in 1990. That year, earth was siphoned from underneath the foundations, which helped decrease the lean, and then anchored. Apparently, the tower is now stable and should remain so for the next two centuries.
Next stop: Lucca!
More photos of my trip to Europe:
- Europe 2016 - Civitavecchia, Italy
- Europe 2016 - Sicily (1)
- Europe 2016 - Sicily (2)
- Europe 2016 - Sicily (3)
- Europe 2016 - Sicily (4)
- Europe 2016 - Delos, Greece (1)
- Europe 2016 - Delos, Greece (2)
- Europe 2016 - Delos, Greece (3)
- Europe 2016 - Mykonos, Greece (1)
- Europe 2016 - Mykonos, Greece (2)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (1)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (2)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (3)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (4)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (5)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (6)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (7)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (8)
- Europe 2016 - Turkey (9)
- Europe 2016 - Rhodes, Greece (1)
- Europe 2016 - Rhodes, Greece (2)
- Europe 2016 - Rhodes, Greece (3)
- Europe 2016 - Rhodes, Greece (4)
- Europe 2016 - Santorini, Greece (1)
- Europe 2016 - Santorini, Greece (2)
- Europe 2016 - Santorini, Greece (3)
- Europe 2016 - Athens, Greece (1)
- Europe 2016 - Athens, Greece (2)
- Europe 2016 - Cameo carving
- Europe 2016 - Pompeii, Italy (1)
- Europe 2016 - Pompeii, Italy (2)
- Europe 2016 - From the ship (1)
- Europe 2016 - From the ship (2)
- Europe 2016 - From the ship (3)
- Europe 2016 - From the ship (4)
- Europe 2016 - From the ship (5)
- Europe 2016 - Pisa, Italy (1)
