WHY IS IT THERE ARE SO MANY TOURIST AND VISITORS IN THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA?

THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA

          

     See that picture? It's proving that there's a lot of people visited on the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But what is the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Well, the Leaning Tower of Pisa  or simply the Tower of PisaTorre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistry. The leaning Tower of Pisa is famous because it leans. Although it was designed to be perfectly vertical, it started to lean during construction. However, even without this famous characteristic, this building would still be one of the most remarkable architectural structures from medieval Europe. It stands at 60 metres and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle. Tower of Pisa is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or campanile. The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles. Leaning Tower of Pisa is the one of the most intriguing historic architectural marvels of the world, situated in Italy. Known as ‘Le Torre Pisa’ in Italian, it is a freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. Situated behind the cathedral, it is the third monument in the Piazza del Duomo. Though the Tower was intended to be vertical initially, it soon gave in during the early stages of construction, tilting towards southwest. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is considered to be a work of art, which took nearly two centuries to be completed. For some interesting and fun facts about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the low side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees.This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 meters (12 ft 10 in) from where it would be if the structure were perfectly vertical. A popular tourist activity is to pose for photographs pretending to "hold up" the leaning tower and preventing it from falling. The illusion is created through the principle of forced perspective. That is why it is one of the Seven Medieval Wonders of the world.

  

  This picture is only one of the reasons why most people or tourists love to visit this place. Just to take a picture like that assuming that they kick the tower, they push the tower or their holding the tower.

    How was this Leaning Tower constructed? Well, the Construction of the tower occurred in three stages across 177 years. Work on the ground floor of the white marble campanile began on August 8, 1173, during a period of military success and prosperity. This ground floor is a blind arcade articulated by engaged columns with classical Corinthian capitals. The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-metre foundation, set in weak, unstable subsoil, a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century, because the Republic of Pisa was almost continually engaged in battles with Genoa, Lucca and Florence. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled. In 1198 clocks were temporarily installed on the third floor of the unfinished construction. In 1272 construction resumed under Giovanni di Simone, architect of the Camposanto. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria. The seventh floor was completed in 1319. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the RomanesqueAfter a phase (1990–2001) of structural strengthening, the tower is currently undergoing gradual surface restoration, in order to repair visual damage, mostly corrosion and blackening. These are particularly pronounced due to the tower's age and its exposure to wind and rain. There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical major scale. The largest one was installed in 1655. The bell-chamber was finally added in 1372.