Behold, the Not-Quite-So-Leaning Tower of Pisa after eight-year makeover

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE

Before and after: The Pisa landmark's lean was straightened by just over a degree from 1990 to 2001, though there is still a significant - but not dangerous - tilt, as shown on the right


- Restoration team of 10 used lasers, chisels and syringes on 24,424 stones

- No more work needed on the iconic building 'for 200 years'


We all tend to stand that little bit straighter after a good wash and brush-up. And that includes the not-quite-so-Leaning Tower of Pisa.

As well as cleaning centuries of grime from the Tuscan landmark, restorers helped stabilise its tilt by removing soil from beneath one side of its foundations.

Its angle was previously 5.5 degrees from the perpendicular, but is now only 3.99 degrees off straight.

Experts say the seven-storey bell tower should now be safe from further intervention for at least the next 200 years.


Gleaming: The 838-year-old Leaning Tower Pisa has been restored to its former glory after an eight-year clean


The reason for the 183ft building’s lean is believed to be shallow foundations of only 10ft, coupled with weak, unstable sub-soil.

‘It was on the verge of collapse, but we managed to stop the tilt and secure it,’ said a spokesman.

Using lasers, chisels and syringes, the restoration team took eight years and three months to clean the 24,424 blocks of stone.

The man in charge, Anton Sutter, said: ‘The stones were in an appalling state, mainly due to air pollution, though tourists and pigeons played a part.

'The columns are decorated with capitals: flowers, ghoulish faces, fantastical animals.

'But sea salt carried on the wind and rain water that collects in certain areas because of the tower's tilt have damaged many [stones].

'We've taken out the concrete used in past restorations and cleaned up the pigeon dirt, graffiti and hand-prints left by tourists as they struggle to keep their balance while climbing the winding stairs to the top.'

As our pictures show, the 838-year-old free-standing, seven-storey bell tower has never looked better, following the work done by the 10-strong restoration team.

The tower, which took 177 years to complete originally, owes its trademark lean to soil subsidence, but the restorers are confident no more work will need doing to the tower for the next two centuries


Open for work: The famous landmark attracts over one million visitors a year


Having undergone an 11-year restoration from 1990 to 2001, which helped stablise the building's lean - it was 5.5 degrees and is now 3.99 degrees - the past eight years have been all about giving the bell tower a good old sheen-shine.

And the Tuscany city can be proud once more of the gravity bending, free-standing bell town, that completes the venerated Cathedral Square.


Teamwork: A group of 10 restorers have used lasers, chisels and syringes have cleaned the 24,424 blocks of stone which make up the 183-foot tower


Just seven miles from the Mediterranean Sea on the west coast of Italy, the tower is frequently battered by storms that eroded and discoloured the tower, which weighs some 14,500 metric tons.

The distinctive, yellowish stone came from the quarries of San Giuliano, visible from the top of the tower, which mark the green hills behind Pisa.


Restoration: The tower in 1993, as the original work was being done to stabalise it and, on the right, one of the 10-man team cleans the yellowed stone


In 1987 the Tower of Pisa was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural organisation UNESCO, but as fears grew that it would topple over it was closed to the public in 1990.

The eleven years served to save the tower - the worry was that it would come crashing down, and Italy would lose one of its most significant and popular landmarks.

'The tower was on the verge of collapse, but we managed to stop the tilt and secure it,' said Giuseppe Bentivoglio, from the Opera Primaziale organisation that preserves the tower.

The tower was reopened to the public in 2001 and has remained open throughout a restoration costing almost £6million - partly to keep tourists happy, but partly because the revenue from ticket sales helps pay for the upkeep. The tower attracts over one million visitors a year.

'It's now out of risk for at least the next 200 years,' said Bentivoglio.

But how did the tower achieve its lean? The most respected theory suggests the tower began to sink after construction - which began in 1173 - had progressed to the third floor after five years.


Impressive: The Pisa Cathedral Square in all its glory


This was believed to have been caused as there was only a three-metre foundation which was set in weak, unstable subsoil - a design that was flawed from the beginning.

Back then that area of Italy was very belligerent, with various local factions jostling for position and land-grabbing.

Because of the battles between Pisa and nearby Genoa, Lucca and Florence, the construction of the tower was put on hold for almost a century.


Popular: The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the jewels of Tuscany and can expect to continue attracting tourists for many centuries to come


Thankfully this allowed enough time for the soil to settle - had there not been that length of break, many believe the tower would have toppled over centuries ago.

When tools were picked up once more, under architect Giovanni di Simone (who had built the Camposanto Monumentale, the fourth and last building to be erected in Cathedral Square) in 1272, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other, in an effort to compensate for the tilt.

Because of this, the tower is actually curved. Construction was halted again in 1284, when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoans in the Battle of Meloria and the seventh floor was not completed until 1319 under the stewardship of Tommaso di Andrea Pisano.


source: dailymail