Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is very old. Back in the 11th century AD the city of Pisa wanted to build a cathedral. For a cathedral you need to build the cathedral itself, but you also need a baptistry and a bell tower. These cathedrals were enormous and took a long time to build. Towards the end of the 12th century, they were ready to start on the bell tower, so an architect was hired to design and construct one.

Normally the bell tower is attached to the cathedral to provide strength and stability to the tower, but the land that they could get for this tower was not directly next to the cathedral. Also, the land was kind of swampy. Both of those issues led to problems. After the first two floors of the tower were built, it began to lean.

The architect was fired. The engineer's reputation and career were ruined. The city of Pisa was embarrassed and nobody else wanted to work on the tower. They doubted that it could be successfully completed. And even if it was they did not want their name associated with it. The tower was considered doomed, and even cursed by some.

Eventually, almost 100 years later, they found someone who was willing to try. The new architect used lighter materials on the side it was leaning towards and tried to curve the top so that it would end up a little straighter at the top (the tower is kind of banana shaped now). It took another 100 years, but finally the tower was finished.

Ironically, the thing that brought the city so much embarrassment originally is the very thing that brings the city fame and tourists now. If it weren't for the leaning tower, probably very few tourists would visit Pisa today.

It is a good reminder that sometimes really great things can come from what is originally considered a failure.



Source: Our tour guide in Pisa, Italy