Friday, December 10, 2010

Leaning Tower of Pisa



 Leaning Tower of Pisa italically called as Tonve Pendente Di Pisa is a medieval structure immortalized by the settling of its foundation, causing it to lean 17 feet(5.2 meters) from the perpendicular. The bell tower, began in 1174 as the third and final structure of the cathedral complex, was designated to stand 185 feet high and was constructed of white marbles. Three of its eight stories were completed when the uneven Settling of the foundation in the soft ground became noticeable. Bonnano Pisano, the engineer in charge of construction of the present tower that leans in Pisa, sought to compensate for the lean by making the new stories slightly taller on the short side, but the extra masonry caused the structure to sink aside still further. Work was suspended several times as engineers sought solutions, but the tower was ultimately topped out in the 14th century and thus it stills leans.

In modern times the foundation have been strengthened by injection of cement grounding, but is the late 20th century, the structure was still in danger of collapse, and various schemes were under considerations of saving it.







Galileo, the man who found out that the world is a big ball, round in shape was born in Pisa and the cathedral where the tower is present helped him. Galileo during his study in the college saw the swinging lamp in the bell tower in the leaning tower got the idea of a pendulum that helps in running a clock. The work of Bonnano Pisano was prefixed by Guglino pisano in 1162 and he made the first Pulpit. Bonnano pisano made the bronze doors in 1180, Nicola pisanoi, covered the baptisary pulpit in 1260 and Nicolas son Gicovanni pisano was the sculptor of the present cathedral pulpit in 1310.
Internal struggles help to bring about the occupation of Pisa by the frontiers in 1406. When the French army attacked Italy in 1404, Pisa temporarily, reasserted its independence. It had a lot of war until it was conquered by Florence in 1509. Thereafter, it declined as a provincial Tuscan town. It also has an important railway junction and famous light industries have brought the prosperity to them. Wind spread destruction took away the charm of the leaning tower during the World War II. But, the tourist continued to flock there to see the leaning tower, which is in the danger of collapse now. The Pisa tower marks one of the extra ordinary monuments in the history of western art. There is an uneasy relationship between the carvings on the Gothic’s, the cathedral and the tower. Historians try to make out the uneasy relationship but still now, they remain in a mess. The look of the 25-sided fountain mixes tale, the old Testaments characters and heraldic characters animals is a beautiful thing to look at. Probably, the relationship between the sculptors and the characters and the carvings may be derived by more detailed study about that Italian history and may we get an answer.     

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