Pisa

An architectural project gone terribly wrong is now the "must see" for tourists...we of course are no exception.  The Torre Pendente really does lean!  It teeters on the edge of the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) or also famously known as the Campo die Miracoli ( Field of Miracles) which is stretched over a vast green lawn.  Over the centuries, the tower has tilted an extra 1mm each year, and by 1993-it was 4.47m out of plumb(more than 5 degrees from the vertical).
It began construction in 1173, but came to an abrupt stop ten years later when the first signs of the foundations 3 tiers observed to be tilting.  In 1272, work started again attempting to correct the problem, but to no avail.  Classic Italian style, they simply decided to keep going, compensating for the lean by gradually building straight up from the lower stories and creating a subtle curve.

The most recent solution was to attach steel braces to the third story and steel cables to neighboring buildings.  This held the tower in place while engineers began to remove the soil from below the northern foundation.  After some 70 tones of earth had been removed, the tower sank to it's 18th century level and rectified the lean by 43.8cm.

Access is limited to 40 people at a time, and thankfully no children are admitted under the age of 8.  Its a steep climb of 294 steps...30 minutes later.....che bella!!