THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA
The leaning Tower of Pisa is something nearly every visitor to Italy wants to see. The amazing structure is a marble bell tower in Pisa, Italy. Remarkably, it has been standing for hundreds of years, even thought it has been leaning since it was under construction! Work on the tower began in 1173. It took 200 years to finish the building.
This beautiful tower was supposed to be vertical, but after the first three of its eight stories were built, the ground under it started sinking, and the tower began to lean. Each year the tower leans a millimeter more -- it is now fourteen feet out of vertical line. Work is now being done in the soil underneath to slow the leaning and make sure that the tower doesn't fall down any time soon.
Thousands of visitors climb the 300 winding steps up to the bell tower each year to enjoy the beautiful view of Pisa.