Leaning Tower of Pisa. Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy) - the falling symbol of Pisa

If we talk about the famous bell towers of the world, the most famous is, without a doubt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In what other city is the slope of the campanile 3° 54"? This degree is quite noticeable only at tall objects. And the bell tower seemed frozen in its fall. Undoubtedly, the city of Pisa has a lot of other attractions. It is not for nothing that UNESCO included it in its World Heritage List (at number 395) the whole Prato de Miracoli square. Its name translates as “field of miracles”. And the Baptistery of San Giovanni, and the Camposanto cemetery, and the cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin are magical creations of medieval and Renaissance architecture. But the bell tower of Santa Maria is Assunta is something special. All tourists consider it necessary to visit Prato de Miracoli to “prop” it with their finger (me, Batman, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa that I saved - photos of this type are the most common). But in this article we will figure out why the bell tower is falling, what is its height and what interesting stories are associated with it.

The city of Pisa and its attractions

The Cathedral undeservedly stands in the “shadow” of its famous leaning bell tower. You definitely need to go into it, just like the baptism of John the Baptist. But the city’s attractions are not limited to Prato de Miracoli square alone. The churches - Francis of Assisi, Santa Maria della Spina, San Paolo a Ripa d'Amo, Caterina, Frediano, Stephen, San Michele, Sant'Sixtus and others - are excellent examples. You should also visit the ancient monastery of St. Anthony. The galleries and palaces of Pisa deserve special attention: the royal Palazzo Reale, Medici, Lanfranchi, Agostini, Orologio, Carovana, Borgo Stretto. The city of Pisa boasts one of the oldest universities in Europe. The complex of educational buildings is also a historical landmark. There are many museums in the city. The most famous of them are: San Matteo, Villa di Corliano, Delle Sinope, Opera del Duomo, Medici Arsenals and Fortezza di San Gallo.

Why is the Leaning Tower of Pisa tilted: legend

There is a beautiful legend about the slow “fall” of the bell tower. They say that more than eight hundred years ago, in 1173, the master Bonanno Pisano took up the construction of the campanile. He created a wonderful marble tower, decorated it with arches and reliefs. But for some reason the local authorities refused to pay the architect the promised fee. Then the annoyed master said to his creation: “Follow me!” and moved south. And - lo and behold! - the bell tower leaned in this direction at the same hour. The frightened consuls immediately paid everything they owed under the agreement. The Campanile froze and has existed in this form for eight centuries. How much of this is true? Only the master's name. But Bonanno Pisano managed to build only the three lower floors of the high bell tower. And it was completed only two hundred years later, in 1360. It was decorated with sculptures in the fifteenth century, and with bells a century later.

A mistake that became a landmark

It's time to answer the question of why the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted. For a long time it was believed that this was the architect's plan. But that's not true. The architect initially, even in the construction plans, made a mistake in the calculations. For the expected height of the tower, he planned a foundation that was too small (only three meters wide). And besides, he did not check the soil at the construction site. The silty and clayey soil under the southern end of the tower began to erode and sag. The error was discovered five years after the start of construction, when the third colonnade ring was close to completion (1178). The slope of the unfinished campanile was slight at that time. After all, the three-story building was only eleven meters high. The roll from the vertical axis was four centimeters. But this circumstance forced Bonanno Pisano and his assistant Guglielmo from Innsbruck to quit their work and hide in an unknown direction.

Attempts to complete the campanile

The problem was not so much the roll, but the very tendency of the deviation from the vertical axis to increase. Work was suspended, but not so much because of construction difficulties, but because of the war. In 1233 the fourth floor of the campanile was completed. After several more wars, the city consuls in the fourteenth century decided to resume construction. At that time the roll had already increased by half a meter. Giovanni di Simoni took up the matter. Instead of studying the issue and figuring out why the Leaning Tower of Pisa was tilted, he began to build the fifth floor. The structure was clearly at risk of collapse, and the master refused to continue construction. Indeed, in the Bonanno Pisano plan, the main campanile was conceived as a ten-story building with a belfry on the eleventh and a roof on the twelfth. Thus, the entire structure, in order to glorify God and the city, had to be ninety-eight meters high.

Attempts to fix the error

In 1350, the famous architect Tomaso di Andrea risked completing the work of his predecessors. At that time, the roll was already ninety-two centimeters. The architect studied the question of why the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted, and realized that the problem is in the soil. Humans cannot change the soil, but they can influence construction plans. And he made certain adjustments to his calculations. He built the next floor of the tower eleven centimeters more on the inclined side, thereby providing some kind of counterbalance to the tilt. The master abandoned the original idea of ​​​​a too high campanile. He limited himself to eight tiers. The building was crowned not by a roof, but by bronze bells. But this refusal of four floors only delayed the inevitable fall. The degree of inclination of the campanile grew steadily every year.

Bell tower and Galileo

Don't forget that the interior is equipped with a staircase with 294 steps. And now you can climb them to admire the stunning panorama of the city. But much earlier than the tourists, Galileo Galilei climbed the tower. In the presence of two professors of natural sciences from the University of Pisa, he threw objects of varying weights from an inclined bell tower to prove the theory of gravity.

Rescue Campaign

Meanwhile, the beautiful creation continued to deviate from the vertical axis at a speed of one millimeter per year. In the twentieth century, scientists rendered a verdict: if prompt measures are not taken, the structure will collapse in forty or fifty years. Since 1994, a whole campaign has been launched to save this landmark. The height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, 56.7 meters, excluded any possibility of external support. Moreover, such a frame would inevitably spoil the appearance of this brilliant creation. Therefore, scientists took up the root cause of the “fall of the tower” - soil. In the late 1990s, lead bars were placed on the northern part of the building's plinth as a temporary measure. This counterweight slowed the fall and even reduced the roll by half a degree. But the rescuers didn't stop there. They gradually, one centimeter at a time, removed the soft clay soils from the southern side and replaced them with hard soil. As a result of these works, which only ended in 2010, the leaning of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was reduced from 5° 30" (in the 1990s) to the current 3° 54". It was announced to the general public that the architectural monument had stopped “falling.”

The beauty of the campanile

To be fair, it should be noted that there are many buildings in the world with a clearly visible slope. For example, the degree of tilt of the ancient Gothic church of Zuurhusen in East Friesland (Germany) is 1.22 degrees greater than that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And for this reason, the German temple ended up in the Guinness Book. But the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the photo of which has long become the “calling card” of the city, is also incredibly beautiful. It was conceived as a hollow cylinder of stone. two shades - snow-white and gray - makes it look like lace. Classical capitals crown the colonnade of the elongated ground floor. All subsequent six tiers are decorated with exquisite arcades and galleries. The tympanum above the entrance is crowned with a sculpture of the Madonna and Child by Andrea Guardi.

To the question “Where is the leaning tower located?” People answer “In Pisa” without hesitation. And indeed, its name has become a household name, and the tower itself has become a legend, which is sought after from all corners of the Earth.

However, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is far from the only architectural oddity. Around the world they are quite inclined in different countries. Including domestic production. Of course, they do not attract such a huge number of tourists as their most famous Italian competitor, although the story of their falls is no less interesting and is shrouded in myths and fairy tales.

1. Nevyansk Tower

Nevyansk, Sverdlovsk region

The famous Nevyansk leaning tower, a symbol of the city of Nevyansk, is perhaps known not only for its inclination, but also for its mysteries. Their number per square meter of area is simply off scale. Take, for example, the fact that it is not known for certain who built it and when. It is now generally accepted that it was most likely 1725. Although some scientists argue that it could have been 1730 or 1722. However, first things first.

So, the legendary founder of the mining industry, Akinfiy Demidov, in the mid-20s ordered the construction of a stone manor house, a factory office and, next to the wooden Transfiguration Church that already existed on the territory of the factory, a tower bell tower. It was built from heel bricks. That is, they kneaded the clay dough with their heels, picking out the small pebbles that had been pushed in there, which were perfectly felt in this way. That's why the name.

For special strength, egg white was used. But the main qualitative test of strength was ahead.

After the brick was made, it was thrown from a 12-meter wooden tower and only if it remained safe and sound was it used for construction.

So, to put it bluntly, it was not very easy for bricks to go down in history. By the way, according to one legend, the fate of the brick befell the architect himself, who, on Demidov’s instructions, was thrown from the balcony of his own brainchild. However, there is no name of the architect or documentary evidence of this legend. But the practice in general was typical for that time.

The tower itself is a square base on which three octagons are installed like a snowman: that is, each next one is smaller than the previous one. The tower is crowned with a cone with a weather vane flag, which sways at the slightest breeze, despite all its weight. This is the main confirmation that the tower is not falling, but rather inclined, and perhaps it was intended to be that way.

Simply put, if the tower were tilted any number of degrees, the weather vane would not be able to rotate. He, too, would have glanced sideways and froze forever.

At the base of the tower there was Demidov’s own office, laboratory, archive and the so-called “hearing room” - a coveted curiosity for tourists. The fact is that, thanks to the original shape of the ceiling, there is an auditory anomaly in the room: if two people stand in different corners of the room and begin to say something in a whisper, then each in his corner will hear the other’s whisper, while in the center of the room there is no nothing will be heard. Here, according to legend, Demidov brought his “business” partners, auditors and all sorts of enemies and hypocrites, and listened carefully to what they were whispering about in the corners.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the tower clock, or rather the clock mechanism of the famous English chimes. Their clock drum was programmed with 18 English melodies, and 10 bells played them methodically. By the way, the mechanism is alive and well, it still works, although it plays not the 18 melodies for which Demidov actually paid, but the “Life for the Tsar” supplemented in 1965.

Main versions of tower tilt

There are several versions about the reasons for the tilt of the tower, but none has been confirmed. Some say that the tower was originally designed and built obliquely to annoy foreigners with their Leaning Tower of Pisa, some put forward versions that during the construction of the base under the tower the ground subsided greatly and the building tilted. The builders continued its construction, trying to straighten it as much as possible, which is why a very characteristic saber-shaped slope is visible there.

There is another version related directly to Demidov’s activities. Allegedly, in his laboratory on one of the floors, he minted counterfeit money, and evidence of this is the remains of particles of silver and gold found in the furnace soot on the walls. When it became known that an auditor was going to these metas to conduct an inspection, Demidov ordered the flooding of the laboratory and the secret passages leading underground to the tower from his house. The building could not withstand such an amount of moisture, the foundation sank and a characteristic slope appeared. In general, there is still something to think about and something for scientists to reflect on when tapping thick walls and exploring basements.

However, the last mystery of the tower really baffles: the spire of the bell tower has since been connected to grounding, that is, its lightning rod appeared on it a quarter before it was created by Benjamin Franklin. This is truly obvious and incredible!

Currently, the tower building houses the main exhibition of the Nevyansk Historical and Architectural Museum and all floors are available for visits.

Nevyansk Historical and Architectural Museum, Sverdlovsk region, Nevyansk, Demidov Square, 3, www.museum-nev.ru

2. Solikamsk Bell Tower

Solikamsk, Perm region

The belfry of two cathedrals at once - Trinity and Holy Cross Cathedrals in the center of Solikamsk also became famous due to its almost two-meter deviation. The construction of the belfry began in 1713, however, it proceeded intermittently and so slowly that it seems that the tower itself was tired of it: under the influence of groundwater, it was slightly askew.

Falling is not the only feature of the Solikamsk bell tower. Its layout itself deserves special attention. It consists of a huge cube, a base and, in fact, the tower itself, made in the shape of an octagon. In order for the base to withstand such a colossal load, its walls are unusually thick: the internal ones reach up to 3 meters.

It is also interesting that the stone base of the tower was originally planned for various city needs.

The magistrate, the court, and the city council were located here at different times.

Subsequently, the first floor of the building was used for storage rooms, and later, when Solikamsk trade began to decline, it was used for arrest cells. Immediately after the revolution, the bell tower was occupied, making it a temporary dormitory. But then it got even worse: at the end of the 1920s, the first two floors began to be used to hold prisoners transferred to Vishera.

The premises inside the bell tower were finally destroyed in 1931, when people simply had nothing to heat the stoves with. Stairs, ceilings, floors and all the furniture remaining at that time were thrown into the fire. The tower was finally “finished off” by the careless removal of the bells - the decorative decoration that glorified it was almost completely destroyed. Endless warehouses, printing houses, and factories, which were located in the tower at different times, methodically destroyed and destroyed the building: the foundation was partially destroyed, huge cracks appeared on the walls, and the facades themselves were practically lost. However, restoration got here only in the 1950s, and in recent years the bell tower has been almost completely restored.

By the way, this is one of those rare cases when modern restoration has benefited the monument. Currently, the tower houses the local history museum of the Solikamsk region, and the bell tower itself is used as an observation deck.

Solikamsk Museum of Local Lore, Solikamsk, st. Embankment, 93, www.skm.solkam.ru

3. Syuyumbike Tower

Kazan

Another leaning tower is located in the Kazan Kremlin - the heart of the Republic of Tatarstan. It was built exclusively as a guardhouse and therefore is located at some distance from the fortress walls. It consists of seven different tiers: the three lower ones are square, then 4 octahedrons are placed on them according to the principle of reduction. The angle of deflection of the spire is almost 2 meters and is clearly visible to the naked eye.

Unfortunately, it has still not been possible to determine the exact year of its construction, as well as the name of the architect. There are many hypotheses and scientific discussions on this matter. Today, the building is officially dated back to the 17th century. This date is also indicated in all Kazan guidebooks. In general, no matter where you point it, everything is a mystery. And who built it, and when, and how long ago did it begin to bend? Even the reason for this name remains not entirely clear. All that remains is to remember the folk legends that, perhaps, every resident of Kazan knows.

Who is it named after?

Once upon a time there lived Queen Syuyuk, the ruler of the Kazan Khanate. The queen was so kind, beautiful and fair that the people nicknamed her Syuyumbike - “beloved lady.”

Queen Syuyumbike

However, Ivan the Terrible heard about the beautiful ruler, who decided to marry again, and proposed marriage to her. But Syuyumbike refused the groom, who was not to her heart. Then the formidable king himself came to the walls of Kazan with a huge army and invited Syuyumbika to think twice about his proposals, and so that she would not refuse again, he promised to destroy the city to the ground. The kind Syuyumbike decided to protect the residents from a destructive future and agreed to marry Ivan the Terrible, and as a gift asked to build a tower for her. According to legend, this tower was supposed to be built in 7 days, which was done. And after that, they threw a wedding feast. Before leaving, Syuyumbike climbed her tower to say goodbye to her beloved city, which she would never see again, and threw herself down from the top.

It remains to be said that the calling card of the city has gone through several restorations and cosmetic repairs. The most large-scale one was carried out even before the revolution - then the lower tier was strengthened with a special steel bandage at the level of the heel of the arch, which significantly distorted the appearance of Syuyumbike, but implied additional strengthening and supposedly prevented greater rooting. After so many years, the bandage has, of course, become unusable, but no one has yet decided to remove it.

Currently, the tower is used as a minaret for reciting the azan during funeral prayers in honor of the victims of 1552. In this regard, its spire in 1993 was crowned with a gilded crescent.

State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve Kazan Kremlin, Kazan, www.kazan-kremlin.ru

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a wonderful architectural structure of medieval architects, which is on the list of “must-sees” for every traveler in Italy. It is amazing that this building has survived to this day, despite many difficulties and historical vicissitudes.

In the historical center of Pisa is the Piazza dei Miracoli (Piazza of Miracles), which is dominated by four monuments of Italian medieval architecture: the cathedral, the bell tower, the baptistery (baptismal place) and the cemetery. The unique architectural ensemble is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Italian sculptor Bonanno Pisano was the first architect to begin construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in 1173. According to the project, this was supposed to be a bell tower near the cathedral. The architecture of the tower is an amazing combination of Byzantine and classical elements. The main material is white marble. Today, the height of the 8-tier structure is 56.7 meters.

The architects provided for everything except the “substrate” - what the building will stand on. As it turned out, the northern side of the tower was built on solid soil, and the southern side was built on soft, silty clay. This was enough to reveal a sideways tilt upon completion of the third floor.

The government was in a panic, believing that the building would collapse. But at that moment another war began between the Italian states, and the tower was forgotten for a long time - almost 100 years. During this time, the ground beneath it settled a little and became compacted.

In 1272, after the end of the war, the engineer Giovanni di Simone continued construction. Under his leadership, four more floors were erected. Di Simone tried to compensate for the slope by making one side of the upper floors taller than the other. However, the additional weight of the new floors made the tower lean even further.

The second time construction was suspended during the naval battle of Meloria (1284), when the Pisans lost their entire fleet and many people captured in the battle with Genoa.

Construction later resumed again, and the last floor was completed in 1350. The eighth bell level was made in the Gothic style, in contrast to the Romanesque style of the rest of the building. Its walls were also built of unequal height. Thus, if you look closely, the tower has a curved, banana-shaped shape.

Two spiral staircases were also built in the building, leading to rooms with bells. There were seven of them installed in total, the largest weighing 3600 kilograms.

For many years the tower stood as part of the architectural ensemble on the Square of Miracles, deviating more and more from the vertical axis every year.

During World War II, when Allied forces landed in Italy, Americans issued orders to destroy any large buildings for fear of saboteur snipers who used tall buildings to make sneak attacks. But before the tower in Pisa was destroyed, the order was canceled. But still, many monuments of Italian architecture were blown up.

In 1990, the tower was closed to tourists, and many engineers worked hard to save it. Using a special technology, soil was removed from under the building and concrete was poured. They tried to stop the process of falling of the tower and “balance” it by installing lead counterweights.

All the bells were removed from the bell tower at the top. After all, they could potentially aggravate the situation and lead to an increase in slope.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was reopened to tourists in 2001. It was strengthened so well that, according to scientists, its reconstruction cannot be interfered with for the next 200 years. And if the slope does increase, it will only add interest to this interesting architectural monument.

It turns out that in one of the Russian cities in the Urals.

Traveling around Italy, many tourists rush to get to the city Pisa to see with your own eyes one of the Italian wonders - the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Leaning Tower of Pisa- This is the so-called leaning tower.

What is a "leaning tower"?

What does the definition mean? falling tower»? Falling tower- this is a structure whose axis is not parallel to the vertical, but is deviated from it at a certain angle. If we delve deeper into the terminology, there is a division: falling tower And leaning tower. The angle of inclination of the falling tower gradually increases, which can lead to the destruction of the structure. And the angle of the inclined tower remains constant, while the structure itself is in a stable equilibrium state. Deviation of the building axis from the vertical can occur for various reasons: earthquakes, floods, strong wind loads, and so on, but most often the deviation from the vertical is the result of miscalculations by architects and builders. If a building is built on unsuitable soil for construction, then after some time the building may tilt due to uneven settlement. It is amazing that the tilt of a building, caused by an engineering error, can make the building a landmark known throughout the world.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy has gained worldwide fame due to its leaning, but there are many other leaning and leaning towers built around the world. In the same Italy, there are several more leaning towers; also leaning and leaning towers can be found in Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and many other countries.

Leaning and leaning towers in Italy

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa- This is the eight-story bell tower of the Pisa Cathedral. The height of the building is approximately 56.7 meters, and the angle of inclination is 3° 54". The bell tower of the Pisa Cathedral was built intermittently for almost two centuries from 1173 to 1360. The tilt of the tower appeared after the construction of the third floor. The reason for the tilt of the building is the small foundation and unsuitable soil for construction. To compensate for the tilt, the upper floors were built with higher corridor ceilings on the side in which the tower leaned, which led to curvature about the axis of symmetry. The last floor was built with an even greater bend, but this approach did not produce results, and the tower remained turned out to be inclined. Until the twentieth century, the Leaning Tower of Pisa gradually “fell”, deviating by about one millimeter from the vertical per year. And only at the beginning of the 21st century was it possible to stop the “fall” of the tower and even reduce the angle of inclination from 5° 30" to 3° 54" by excavating under the foundation.

Sometimes Italians make fun of tourists, telling how the leaning of the Leaning Tower of Pisa appeared:

“The architect Bonnano Pisano, at the request of the Catholic priests, built an elegant and completely straight bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral. The bell tower amazed with its grandeur and beauty. But the stingy Catholic priests refused to pay the architect for the work. Then Pisano approached the tower and said: “Follow me!” The bell tower tried to follow its creator and bent."

These days the name " Leaning Tower of Pisa“has become a household word: now this is the name given to unstable vertical structures or structures that have noticeably deviated from the vertical.

Two Italian leaning towers are located in the city center Bologna. Towers Asinelli (Asinelli) And Garisenda (Garisenda), named after the families of the first owners, were built in the 12th century. In medieval Bologna, wealthy families competed with each other to build the tallest tower. First, the Asinelli Tower appeared in the city center, which after construction tilted to the side due to uneven settlement of the soil under the foundation. Then came the Garisenda Tower, which was deliberately built slanted, mocking the neighboring tower. After completion of construction, the Garisenda was shortened several times to avoid collapse due to its critical slope. The height of the Asinelli tower is approximately 97.2 meters, and the angle of inclination is 1° 18". Asinelli is the tallest ancient leaning tower in the world. Garisenda is half the height of its neighbor (about 48 meters), but it tilts more to the side: towards our days, the deviation from the vertical at the top point of the tower is about three meters, but at the beginning of the 14th century Alighieri Dante in his poem " The Divine Comedy” described only a slight deviation:

"Like Garisenda, if you stand under the overhang,
The summit seems to be falling little by little
Towards a cloud in the heights of heaven..."

Leaning and leaning towers in Germany

Germany also has leaning and leaning towers, and one of them even made it into the Guinness Book of Records. Bell tower of the church in the village of Zuurhusen (Suurhusen) deviated from the vertical at an angle of 5° 12", respectively, this is the most inclined ancient leaning tower in the world. The church building in Zuurhusen was built in the 13th century, and the bell tower was added later - in the 15th century. After construction, the bell tower began to tilt to the side due to due to the uneven settlement of the building.It was possible to stop the “fall” only at the end of the twentieth century.

Bell tower of the Upper Church in Bad Frankenhausen-Kyffhäuser

Upper Church V Bad Frankenhausen-Kyffhäuser was built in the 14th century. Since then, the church tower has been continuously leaning towards the ground. The angle of inclination of the tower is already greater than the inclination of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, but the “fall” still cannot be stopped.

Leaning and leaning towers in the Netherlands

Oldehowe Tower

Oldehowe Tower- an unfinished bell tower in the center of a Dutch city Leeuwarden. Construction of the building began in the 16th century. Local residents wanted to add a bell tower to their church, which would surpass the height of the bell tower of St. Martin's Church in the neighboring town Groningen. The tower began to tilt already at the initial stage of construction. Noticing this, the builders tried to compensate for the tilt by completing the upper level, which is why the tower became not only inclined, but also crooked. As a result, the construction of the bell tower, which reached a height of about forty meters, had to be stopped, and the church was completely dismantled due to the danger of collapse.

Bell tower of the Old Church in Delft

Oude Kerk(translated from Dutch - Old Church) - a Gothic church in a Dutch city Delft. The church was built in the 13th century, and in the 14th century a bell tower was added to it. Over time, the 75-meter bell tower deviated from the vertical by almost 2 meters (angle of inclination - 1° 30").

Leaning and leaning towers in Russia

Tower Syuyumbike

One of the Russian leaning towers is located in the third capital of Russia -. Tower Syuyumbike- inclined watchtower of the Kazan Kremlin. The height of the building is approximately 58 meters, and the deviation of the top of the spire from the vertical is 1.98 meters. The date of construction of the tower still remains a mystery. There are many legends about this Kazan skyscraper, but most of them are just fiction. For example, according to one legend, the tower was built by order of Ivan the Terrible in seven days - one tier per day. I wish I could bend over after such high-speed construction! Nowadays, the inclined Syuyumbike tower is a recognized architectural symbol of Kazan and is widely known far beyond the borders of Tatarstan.

Nevyansk Tower

Nevyansk Tower- a leaning tower located in the center of the Ural city Nevyansk. The tower was built at the beginning of the 18th century by order of the famous industrialist Akinfiy Demidov. The height of the building is 57.5 meters, and the deviation of the tower from the vertical at the top point is approximately 1.85 meters. The angle of inclination of the building from the lower to the upper tier decreases, so it can be assumed that during construction the workers tried to compensate for the mistake made at the stage of laying the foundation and during the construction of the lower level of the tower walls. Thus, the upper tiers were built with a tilt in the opposite direction, which is why the tower acquired a saber-shaped bend. However, there is also an opinion that the building was deliberately built inclined so that Nevyansk could have its own Leaning Tower of Pisa. Also, a legend is sometimes told that the tilt of the tower appeared after Demidov, fearing an inspection by an auditor, ordered the basement of the building in which he allegedly minted counterfeit coins to be flooded. The legend about the flooded basement is just one of many legends about the tower in Nevyansk. Mysticism and mysteries surround this sloping Ural high-rise building. For example, after the construction of the tower, grounding was connected to its spire, that is, the building was equipped with a lightning rod a quarter of a century before it was invented by Benjamin Franklin. Visitors to the tower are also amazed by the so-called “ acoustic room”, in which, standing in one corner, you can clearly hear what is being said in a whisper in the opposite corner. It is also worth mentioning the unique English chiming clock mounted on the tower. The Nevyansk Tower is one of the most mysterious leaning towers in the world, although it is not the tallest or most inclined.

More falling towers can be found in Solikamsk, Kungur and some other Russian cities.

Leaning and Leaning Towers in China

Tiger Hill Pagoda

Tiger Hill Pagoda- an inclined tower in China, it is often called that way: “ Leaning Tower of China" The tower was built in the 10th century, and in the 17th century the tower was lengthened by adding an extension on top. As a result, the height of the tower is approximately 47 meters, while the deviation from the vertical is 2.32 meters, that is, the angle of inclination of the tower is almost 3 degrees. The “fall” of the tower was stopped in the middle of the twentieth century, and now the tower is in a stable equilibrium position.

Leaning and leaning towers in the UAE

Capital Gate

Most often, ancient towers became leaning and inclined due to miscalculations of architects and builders, but today engineers deliberately build inclined buildings. Capital Gate, better known as Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi, is a modern tilting skyscraper in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The height of the building is 160 meters, and the angle of inclination is 18 degrees. The skyscraper is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the building with the greatest angle of inclination in the world.

Leaning and leaning towers in the UK

Big Ben

Surprisingly, one of the most recognizable symbols of Great Britain is Big Ben (Big Ben) is also a leaning tower. The inclination of the 96-meter Big Ben is only 0° 15", and the deviation from the vertical is 0.44 meters. Visually, the inclination is not even noticeable. It is only a stretch to call Big Ben a leaning tower, but it is also impossible to say that the tower is not inclined at all .

The most falling towers

So, let's summarize:

The most famous leaning tower in the world is the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy).

The tallest ancient leaning tower in the world is the Asinelli Tower in Bologna (Italy).
The height of the tower is approximately 97.2 meters.

The most inclined ancient leaning tower in the world is the bell tower of the church in the village of Zuurhusen (Germany).
The tilt angle of the tower is 5° 12".

One of the most mysterious leaning towers in the world is the Nevyansk Tower (Russia).

The most inclined modern building in the world is the Capital Gate skyscraper in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
The tilt angle of the building is 18 degrees.

And finally, you don’t have to go to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, because you can find such a unique landmark somewhere closer.

Leaning towers on the world map

Travel from A to Z:

Most of us know about the leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, but it turns out that there are quite a lot of such leaning towers around the world. We invite you to learn about the ten most famous of them.

1. Suurhusen Church, Germany.
In northwestern Germany, in the region of eastern Friesland, there is the medieval building of Suurhusen. Until 2010, according to the Guinness Book of Records, this church was considered the most inclined tower in the world. Later, its record was broken by the new Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi. The tilt of the Suurhusen spire is 1.22 degrees ahead of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

2. Big Ben, London, UK.
The clock tower, better known as Big Ben, is tilted to the northwest by 0.26 degrees, which is 43.5 cm, according to recently released documents. It is worth noting that since 2003 the slope has increased to 0.9 millimeters. The reason for this was the underground work of the London Underground.

3. Two towers of Bologna, Italy.
The city authorities of Bologna are trying unsuccessfully to prevent the fall of the two towers Asinelli and Garisenda. Although Asinelli is smaller in size than Garisenda, its deflection is much greater - 3.22 m.

4. Frankenhausen Church Tower, Germany.
The tower, located on the outskirts of the city, is constantly exposed to winds. Engineers noted that every year the tower deviates by 6 cm. Accordingly, the turning point may come in the next decade. Local officials decided to spend $1.5 million to try to stabilize the tower.

5. Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy.
The fall of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began just a few years after construction began. The reason for this was the construction of the tower on soft clay. In 1350 the construction was completed, and by this time the slope of the tower was about 4.5 feet. By 1990, the slope had increased by another 4 meters. To prevent the building from falling, the city spent nearly 2 million pounds of lead on ingots that were placed on the counter-fall side of the tower.

6. Nevyansk Tower, Russia.
The construction of the tower in the center of Nevyansk was financed by Peter the Great himself. Built in the first half of the 18th century, its founder was the famous Russian builder Akinfiy Demidov. The tower reaches 57.5 m in height. Recent measurements showed that the tilt of the tower is 2.20 m.

7. Tiger Hill Pagoda.
In the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, is the Tiger Hill Pagoda or Huqiu Tower. The construction of the tower took place during the period of the Five Dynasties, which is 907-960 AD. The height of the tower is 47 m. The building has seven floors and is built in octagons made of blue brick. The forces of nature acted on the deviation of the tower. Today the slope is 2.32 meters. And the entire building weighs about 7 million kilograms.

8. Burana Tower, Italy.
On the Venetian island of Burana there is the Burana Tower, or also called the Church of St. Martino. The structure was built back in the 15th century, and it has not fallen to this day only because it rests on a neighboring extension.

9. Oude Kerk Church, Netherlands.
Oude Kerk, meaning "old church", is a Dutch Gothic Protestant church in the center of Delft. Its height is 75 meters, and its deviation from the vertical is 1.98 cm.

10. Bedum Tower, Netherlands.
The Bedum Tower also breaks the records of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If the Tower of Pisa reaches a height of 55.86 meters and deviates by approximately 4 meters, then the Bedum Tower, with a height of 35.7 meters, deviates by 2.61 meters.