The Leaning Tower of Pisa, one of the most famous architectural wonders in the world, is celebrating its 850th anniversary this year.
One of the most famous landmarks in a country full of them, the Tower of Pisa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracts millions of tourists every year. They all enjoy taking pictures with the tower as a backdrop and many of them take the classic selfie creating the illusion that they are holding it up with their two hands.
To mark its 850th birthday, the city of Pisa has organized a series of events that will last until August 9, 2024. These include an exhibition featuring paintings, engravings, photographs, and films that have immortalized the tower over the years, as well as concerts, conferences, and educational activities.
The celebrations will include free entry to all the monuments in Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo, except the Tower which is being lit up and will be closed for security reasons, from 8.30 PM until 12.00 AM.
There will also be a free concert by Iranian pianist Ramin Bahrami featuring pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Chopin.
A series of initiatives are planned over the next 12 months to mark the Tower’s 850th anniversary.
The Tower’s history is fascinating. The first stone was laid on August 9, 1173, thanks to a donation by a widow named Berta. The tower was meant to be the bell tower of the cathedral in Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo, but it soon started to lean due to the soft soil beneath its foundation. The construction was interrupted several times and lasted for almost two centuries, during which the builders tried to correct the tilt by curving the upper floors in the opposite direction. The tower was finally completed in the mid-14th century, with a total of eight levels and seven bells.
The tower’s lean continued to worsen over time, reaching a dangerous angle of 4.5 degrees in the early 1990s. The Italian authorities closed the tower to the public and launched a major restoration project that lasted for eight years, from 1993 to 2001. The engineers removed some soil from under the northern side of the tower and installed steel cables and lead counterweights to stabilize it. The intervention reduced the tilt by about 45 centimeters, bringing it back to the level of the early 19th century. The tower was reopened to visitors in 2001, and since then it has been monitored by a surveillance group that uses satellite and terrestrial sensors to detect any movement.
The president of Opera della Primaziale Pisana (OPA), the body that manages the tower and the cathedral complex, Andrea Maestrelli, said that today the tower is a stable monument and its future is bright.
