Livorno is
the port for the cities of Pisa and Florence and today we went to see the
Leaning Tower of Pisa, about an hour outside of Livorno.
The church
in the town of Pisa was built in what is now called the Field of Miracles. It
was once the port for the region. Over time the port silted up and moved
farther and farther away from Pisa. It was decided that it would be an
excellent place to put the town’s beautiful new church and indeed, the church
and the baptistery are there in the Field of Miracles. The bell tower was
built, but before it could be raised to the roof of the church, one side of it
started to sink into the soft silt. All of the buildings in the Field of
Miracles lean somewhat, however none as dramatically as the bell tower.
Over time
the tower’s angle of tilt has increased to the point where it was no longer
safe for anyone to climb the tower and it was closed while the town decided
what to do. Ultimately, they ended up draining the Field of Miracles and
replacing the water with soil. Then they attached cables on the side away from
the lean and gradually shortened the cables. There was never an intent to
completely straighten the tower (as our guide said, “Who would come to see the
Straight Tower of Pisa?” What they were able to do though is to stabilize the
tower at the same lean that it had 2 centuries ago and which is considered
safe for people to visit and climb.
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