Piazza del Duomo, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy

The Tower of Pisa or Leaning Tower of Pisa is a campanile or tower built as a bell tower for the Cathedral church in the city of Pisa, Italy. The building, which in Italian is called Torre Pendente di Pisa or Torre di Pisa, is located behind the Cathedral and is the third building of the Campo dei Miracoli or Rainbow Square belonging to the City of Pisa. Initially, the Tower of Pisa was designed to stand upright like bell towers in general. However, during construction which began in August 1173, the Tower of Pisa became tilted.

Construction of the Tower of Pisa began in August 1173. Five years later, it was realized that the building was tilting. The slope was noticed by a worker who was on duty building the second floor. The tilt of the Pisa Tower is caused by a 3 meter high foundation and an unstable underground layer, making it unable to support the weight of the building. 

Giovanni di Simone, the architect responsible for building the Tower of Pisa, tried to get around the tilt. He got around this by making a new floor that was slightly higher on the short side. However, this decision actually caused the structure of the Pisa Tower to sink further. In fact, the slope got worse after construction was completed in the 14th century, to be precise in 1372. This tower was built for approximately 200 years. The project to build the Tower of Pisa progressed slowly due to the incessant war, which took several decades.

Of all the renovations, the Tower of Pisa was closed for 11 years due to fears that the tower would collapse due to its increasing slope. From 1993 to 2001 the tower was closed and repairs were carried out until the slope was reduced to 3.97 degrees. After that, since 2003 the Italian Government, consisting of experts in art, restoration, and structural and geotechnical engineering, has been trying to continue to stabilize the monument.

Now the slope of the Pisa Tower is starting to slow down and remains in a stable status.

Around the Pisa Tower there are many souvenir shops and beautiful restaurants or cafes. The food sold is also Italian food such as spaghetti or pizza. I think the price is standard, between 10 - 30 euros.

Most people visit Pisa as a day trip from Florence, leaving in the morning and returning in the afternoon. Direct trains from Florence take between 1 hour and 1 hour and 11 minutes, depending on the speed of the train. These trains run roughly every 20 to 30 minutes.