Leaning Tower of Pisa is Leaning Less Than Before, Say Experts (theguardian.com)

Italy's famously Leaning Tower of Pisa is a little less off-kilter. Nearly two decades after engineers completed consolidation work to keep the tower from toppling over, officials monitoring the monument said recently that its famed tilt had been further reduced by 4 centimeters, or 1.5 inches. From a report: The tower, which has leaned to one side ever since it began to take shape in 1173, has lost 4cm of its tilt over the past two decades, according to a report from the surveillance group that meets every three months to give updates on the monument's condition. "Since restorative work began, the tower is leaning about half a degree less," said Nunziante Squeglia, a geotechnics professor at the University of Pisa who works with the group. "But what counts is the stability of the tower, which is better than initially predicted." The structure, which was badly damaged during the second world war, was closed to the public in 1990 over safety fears and did not reopen for 11 years.

Comments

Re: good

[lazarus]

Great question. Pisa was the very last thing on my list of things to see in Tuscany because it is a tourist trap. But I went anyway and it was my favorite place. Awesome things about the cathedral at Piza:

1. Fibonacci is buried there. I turned around and there was his grave. I nearly cried.
2. The tower is a bell tower. It has very narrow stairs that wind up and down the tower and are made of marble. So many people have climbed the tower that all of the stairs are worn down in the middle from peoples shoes. I would say the middle of the steps has been worn off by 2-3 inches.
3. The "baptismal" is a third building on the site and is a feat of sound engineering. Every 30 minutes a person will go into the baptismal and "sing a chord". This is possible because a note that is sung in the building echoes around the interior so long it is possible to get three notes out and hear them all interact with each other.
4. The Italians at Pisa are friendly. That is not true of all Italians in Italy...

When I was there they had a sort of scaffolding at the base of the tower which was clearly designed to slowly straighten it over many years. I'm glad it worked. I asked if they would straighten it completely and I was told: "That would make it less famous".

Highly recommended if you ever get the chance to go.