Pisa

It is amusing and ironic to me that one of the most famous landmarks in Italy is an engineering failure.......

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is simply a bell tower, was built on sandy soil, which was too unstable to support the weight of such heavy marble (the tower weighs approximately 14,500 tons). There are 8 levels to the tower, and the top level has 7 bells, with each bell representing one note of the musical major scale. The Tower of Pisa took 344 years to build, beginning in 1173. The tower began to lean in 1178 once construction on the second floor had begun. The construction was stopped twice, the first time for 100 years, the second time in 1284 (both times due to wars).

View (of cathedral and baptistery) from the top of the Tower of Pisa

As I walked through the arches and caught my first glance of the Tower of Pisa, I stood in awe just taking a moment to soak it all in. The next thing to catch my attention was hundreds of other tourists taking photos in which they make it appear like they are holding the tower up. While I did take lots of pictures of the tower (and was looking forward to going to the top), there is something that I noticed that seems to rarely be mentioned--the steps inside. You may be thinking, 'what's the big deal, it's a bunch of steps.' Well let me tell you they are seriously uneven; approximately 300 steps is a challenge in itself, but then you are walking up steps that are indented/grooved from so much traffic and your center of balance continually shifts as you wind your way to the top. Not to mention that the smooth marble to very slick.

Also seen in Pisa is the Pisa Cathedral located in the the Piazza dei Miracoli. Random factoid about the cathedral is that the doors that are on it are not the original ones. In 1595 they were destroyed in a fire.....started from a candle. 

The ceiling....

 

The pulpit...check out the detail of the carvings in the marble.

I really loved the arches and columns in this cathedral.

 

Near the pulpit is a bronze lamp that according to popular legends is called the Galileo lamp. It received its name because according to the story Galileo was watching the lamp sway during Mass when the law of the pendulum occurred to him.

And lastly the Pisa Baptistery which stands in front of the cathedral.