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The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Posted on by Marla Cioni

Guess what day it is?!

Hump day!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I’m excited to bring you another wonderful post from my brother, Matthew. He was previously featured for his post on Machu Picchu. He will be covering the Leaning Tower of Pisa for today’s post.

Students visiting Italy would be remiss if  they didn’t enjoy a stop at one of the country’s most illustrious, if not a tad infamous, landmarks: the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Pisa, a city whose origins date back to the 12th century, benefits from being located between the Arno and the Serchio rivers, which made the town  an important center for travel and trade for centuries. Today, Pisa is a bustling city filled with great shopping, fantastic restaurants, numerous walking districts, architectural pieces and beautiful churches. It’s most notable feature though, is undoubtedly its Leaning Tower.
Originally built as a simple bell-tower (or campanile) for  the nearby cathedral, when construction began on the foundations the  builders neglected to notice that the ground on one side was too soft.
The result?
The tower, all 183 marble feet of it, leans an incredible 12 feet off its axis. Talk about a technical difficulty! Now, the tower is one  of the planet’s most recognizable landmarks, drawing visitors, celebrities, and dignitaries from across the world to this once tiny trading post.

Educational tours to the site are incredibly safe, not to  mention encouraged, as the tower has been shored up and the foundations  strengthened several times over the past century. The tower brings  visitors far and wide to see the oddity up close and personal. Perhaps  more than a few visitors have even considered it to be a wonderful testament of  humanity’s ability to make the best out of a bad situation.

Teachers should be sure to visit the nearby cathedral  and basilica as well. Even though they might not be as iconically  ill-designed, they still serve as a homage to some truly beautiful  architecture and artwork.

Don’t forget to check out the sample educational tour itineraries to Italy that can be found on our website.

-Matthew.