Leaning Tower of Pisa (12/03/03)
Last updated 12/03/03
Pisa was our first stop on the
Italian soil, not counting short waits to change trains in Ventimiglia
and Genoa, and it proved to be as nice an introduction to Italy as I
could imagine. For one, the weather was beautifully warm and sunny... I
will let you in on a little secret: we originally planned on staying
overnight in Genoa and heading to Pisa the following morning, but the
rain made Genoa look so drab and unwelcoming that we just got on the
next train away from the place. Pisa, on the other hand, felt like
sudden summer in December, and had marvellous things to show us, the
main being, of course, the Leaning Tower.
I was surprised to see that the tower is in fact part of a cathedral
complex which includes the Cathedral itself (beatiful Romanesque
building with tiers of arches and pillars on the facade, made of marble
pieces put together in a way that creates an illusion of horizontal
stripes across the walls), the cupcake-like Battistero (baptistry), and
the Campanile (bell tower). The
cathedral complex is located
on the grass-covered "Campo dei Miracoli" (Field of Miracles) square,
surrounded by the old town walls and lined with souvenier stalls with
the inevitable leaning-tower items -- minituare copies in white and
pink with shining lights, keychains, t-shirts, even leaning mugs! Okay,
so I couldn't help myself and got a kitsch leaning cup for Mom's
coffee-cup
collection.
All of the buildings on Campo dei Miracoli lean to some extent due to
the irregularities of water pressure under the soil (basically, the
complex was built on a swamp), but only in the Leaning Tower the angle
is so pronounced that you can't possibly miss the phenomenon. The
tilting of the tower was, obviously, not planned by its architect
Bonnano Pisano, but started unexpectedly when he only completed three
tiers of the eventual seven. I have no idea how the poor man lived down
this embarassment of his career, but it sure has made the town of Pisa
a tourist magnet for the following millenium! The tower's deviation
from the perpendicular (over 4 meters at the top) is obvious to the
naked eye and lends itself well to photography (see below). It appears
from the scientific studies done on the tower's condition (the last one
happened in 2000 on EU money) that the tower is caught in a positive
reinforcement loop: because it's already leaning, the north side of the
building is more exposed to sun and wind, while the south side is more
affected by the air particles caught in its shade, and due to
differences in aging of the stone on the opposite walls the tower tends
to lean more and more over time. Efforts have been undertaken
throughout the tower's lifetime to stop the tilting, but they have so
far been unsuccessful; the tilt is continuing to increase at 1mm a
year. Let's hope they can stop it, because it would be a great pity to
lose this architectural mishap turned one of the wonders of the world!
The rest of Pisa, although unable to rival the fame of its focal point,
is altogether pleasant to explore and has nice examples of
Italian-style architecture as well as a plethora of reasonably priced
restaurants and cafes. The prices must be kept down by the presence of
a large university; if Pisa weren't a college town but only a tourist
attraction, I bet they'd be charging triple for that panini (hot
grilled sandwich) right around the corner from the Leaning Tower! As
is, food is cheap, and you can have your lunch of a super-salty panini
with proscuito (Italian ham) sitting on the steps of the cathedral,
watching the tower lean in front of your eyes. For a fancier meal, head
out into the labirinth of small streets off Via Santa Maria, and you
may discover a small friendly restaurant with cellar-like decor and
incredible pasta dishes that plays "Phantom of the Opera" tunes while
you dine. And they speak English, too! At this point in our journey we
had no language problems, given that our Italian proficiency starts and
ends at "Chiao".
Pictures
Cathedral complex on the Campo dei Miracoli
Yes, the tower is indeed leaning!
Pisa is not all about the tower, it has other places too...
Cathedral complex on the Campo dei Miracoli
Yes, the tower is indeed leaning!
Pisa is not all about the tower, it has other places too...