The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is nothing short of a pure miracle. Tilting to an alarming extent, the huge tower remains intact to this day. Here’s a travelogue of my visit to this astounding tower.
We entered the noisy market of persuading vendors offering us a variety of items varying from beaded necklaces to sunglasses and even tiny replicas of the leaning tower! After moving past the meandering crowds in front of us, we entered the Campo Di Miracoli, otherwise known as the Field of Miracles. And a miracle it was, seeing a massive tower leaning alarmingly to the side.
A lean mean wonder
“Wow!” I murmured as I advanced towards it and began clicking pictures. It was truly a magnificent man-made wonder! The tower was constructed in the year 1174, at a time when Pisa was enjoying an era of military success. It used to serve as a bell tower and was said to be leaning as a result of the poor swampy soil which caused it to sink during right at the beginning of the construction. People at that time still continued to build the tower anyway. The hulking tower strikes you as a cross between alarming beauty and awkward geometry. One side is more than 16 feet closer to the ground than the other, which seems almost humanely impossible!
If you don’t believe it, you must make it a point to see it! Our tour guide also informs us that the famed astronomer Gallileo used the Leaning Tower to prove his theory of motion at the Pisa University in 1589.
The tower is also called ‘La Torre Di Pisa’, and was constructed over a long span of over 200 years which is an alarming amount of time. But if you view the tower up close, you can catch the intricate details that has been put into the construction of the tower. The design was propounded by the architect Bosanno Pisano.
It was fun for us to take pictures at a distance before entering the tower; especially those that make it seem like you are holding the tip of the tower. I took several of these, and had a hearty laugh about it when the pictures came out on my digi-cam.
Don’t forget to also view the Baptistry and the Cathedral which are close by. The Baptistery is known to be the largest in the world of its kind that belongs to Christianity.
How to get there
The Leaning Tower is accessible through bus or taxi easily through the Pisa Centrale railway station. It costs about 15 Euros to mount the tower and timings vary greatly during different times of the year, but it usually is available from about 9 in the morning up to 10 at night so you may visit it at any time you may please.
Since we were famished after conquering the tower, we decided to indulge in some authentic Italian pizza. We walked into a small restaurant and ordered the delicious ‘quatre fromage’ pizza, which was a huge pizza made out of four different types of cheese. Truly, pizza after Leaning Tower of Pisa seemed to be an ideal way to finish our visit. After all, there’s nothing like a grub treat after a real visual treat!
