Although the Campanile(bell tower) was designed to be perfectly vertical, the result turned out to be somewhat different. Five years after construction started in 1174 by Bonanno Pisano, the tower started sinking into the ground due to poor laid foundation. The construction was stopped for almost a century and resumed by Giovanni di Simone who completed four more floors. Finally in 1370 construction was finished after the bell chamber was added.
In 1998 work started to stabilize to tower and prevent it from collapsing. Soil was removed from the North side of the Campanile which reduced the lean by 45 centimetres. In 2001 the bell tower was opened again for visitors, allowing 30 people to go to the top at once. The height of the tower is 55.86 meters with a total of 294 steps to reach the top.
Location: Piazza del Duomo, 56126 Pisa PI, Italy.
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