The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in excellent health.
Every year, thousands of people travel to Pisa in Italy's Tuscany region to witness the bell tower, which is famous for its nearly four-degree lean. However, history buffs and architectural experts are always concerned about the safety of the iconic monument. The tower has endured four earthquakes and has swung back and forth, but despite all of this, it continues to stand with its iconic lean.
For engineers, historians, and bystanders who want it to stay intact, a fresh report has now provided a sigh of relief.
The local heritage protection agency Opera della Primaziale Pisana has said that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in excellent health.
"Considering it is an 850-year-old patient with a tilt of around five metres and a subsidence of over three metres, the state of health of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is excellent," said Opera Primaziale Pisana.
In the 21 years since the last stabilisation work was completed, the tower has slowly leaned to the right by around 4 centimetres (1.6 inches).
The mediaeval bell tower, a symbol of the power of the maritime republic of Pisa in the Middle Ages, has leaned to one side ever since construction started in 1173 on ground that proved a little too soft. The tower was closed to the public in January 1990 for 11 years over safety fears, as its tilt reached 4.5 metres (15 feet) from the vertical, threatening to turn it into a pile of rubble.
Towerofpisa.org claims that the Tower of Pisa's tilting enters the narrative in 1173, the year construction started. By the time its workers reached the third floor, in 1178, the soft soil had caused it to start leaning. The tower's foundation had become unstable due to shifting soil.
Over the ensuing eight hundred years, it became evident that the 55-meter tower was not only learning, but also declinating at a pace of one to two millimetres annually. Today, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is more than five meters off perpendicular.