In 1264, master builder Giovanni di Simone - architect for other parts of the same Cathedral Square in Pisa - took 23 workers up the side of the mountains of Pisa to cut away more marble. During this time, the soil was able to settle under the new weight of the marble. The entire project would have been doomed if it wasn’t forced to halt by a war that began between the Republic of Pisa and other areas within Italy.Ĭonstruction came to a halt for almost 100 years. The design was slightly flawed right from the beginning. The foundation was only 3 meters thick and the subsoil it was set into was weak and unstable. There are a few factors responsible for this sinking. By 1178 the second floor of the tower was well underway and the tower was already beginning to sink. According to written documents, the foundation of the tower was completed a year after construction began in 1174. In the first few years, the first floor and foundations were laid for the tower. The marble and limestone used in construction would have been mined, harvested, transported, cut, heaved and settled into place all by hand.Ĭonstruction of the tower began in 1173. Limestone is much more flexible than marble, giving it the ability to withstand the internal compression caused when the tower began to lean. Many think that the mixed material use is what saved the building from falling completely. The tower is mainly built of white marble but limestone was also used in construction. No one knows the architect responsible for the initial design of the building. The entire cathedral complex in which the bell tower stands was built as a display of strength and importance for the city. As the city began to grow in the 1100s, so did the need for a religious center. Pisa at the time was a small and simple town but was a bustling seaport for the country of Italy. This way, bells could toll uninhibitedly and the church and church-goers would not be disturbed. With construction being done entirely by hand, large sound waves and vibrations would have distrubed the main building if they were built together.
Many older cathedrals have freestanding bell towers built separate from the main building to allow for larger bells. It was, in fact, built to be a bell tower for the cathedral complex in the city of Pisa, Italy. The tower was not built to become the ‘leaning tower of Pisa”. This is the story behind the leaning tower of Pisa and why it leans in the first place. Today, this tower is a magnet for tourists and travellers but when it was built in 1173, it served a much different purpose. When the leaning tower of Pisa was first built, however, it wasn’t leaning at all. It’s a rare thing that a building would be so celebrated for being so crooked.
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