World Art Utopia

Leaning Tower of Pisa — Pisa

Tourists on the path beside the lawn at Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa raise their hands to push the Leaning Tower, while others photograph them
Artwork FilePisa, Italy

Leaning Tower

SeenAug 2023

Bell tower of Pisa Cathedral · Piazza del Duomo, Pisa · begun 1173

Photo: Sebastiaan ter Burg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as published on Street Art Utopia.

The Leaning Tower is the bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, one of the medieval monuments on Piazza del Duomo that UNESCO lists as World Heritage. Work on it started in 1173. According to the Institution of Civil Engineers, the 56-metre tower leaned because of shallow foundations of 3 metres in unstable subsoil, and stabilisation work completed in 2001 straightened it by 38 centimetres. Source Source Reported

Seen August 2023: visitors posing to hold the tower · Wikimedia Commons. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. A cathedral bell tower
    UNESCO lists “the bell tower (the ‘Leaning Tower’)” among the medieval monuments of Pisa’s Piazza del Duomo, which it says were erected between the 11th and 14th centuries. Source Checked
  2. Two centuries to build
    The Institution of Civil Engineers says work started in 1173 and construction finished in 1372; UNESCO’s Japanese summary also gives 1173 and about two centuries of building. Source Source Checked
  3. Why it leans
    The ICE puts the lean down to “shallow foundations of 3m and unstable subsoil”. Source Reported
  4. 38 centimetres back
    The tower closed in 1990, when a committee of 13 experts was appointed. Work completed in 2001 straightened it by 38 cm and the tower reopened that year, according to the ICE. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, Italy. Source Checked

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🗓️ Sightings

  1. 2001

    Stabilisation work completed · ICE

  2. 201721 May

    Visitors push the tower · Commons

  3. 20239 Aug

    Visitors pose to hold it · Commons

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Type
Bell tower of Pisa Cathedral Source Checked
Place
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa, Italy Source Checked
Work began
1173 Source Source Source Checked
Completed
1372, according to the ICE; UNESCO’s Japanese summary says about two centuries after 1173 Source Source Reported
Height
56 metres (ICE); Britannica says it was designed to stand 185 feet (56 metres) high Source Source Checked
Cause of the lean
Shallow 3-metre foundations in unstable subsoil, according to the ICE Source Reported
Stabilisation
Closed in 1990; work completed and reopened in 2001; straightened by 38 cm Source Reported
Later movement
A 2013 study found it had moved a further 2.5 cm vertically since 2001, according to the ICE Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 10 November 2026. How we verify art