The tower leans 40 centimetres less now, in the 1990 it had an incline of 4 meters and a half

The tower of Pisa has been re-opened to the public Saturday morning, after a closing lasted for 12 years. The opening ceremony was accompanied by the sound of the seven bells on the top of the tower.

In the 1990 the leaning of the monument became worrying  and a team of engineers was charged to reduce the incline.

The works, which cost  more than 53 billion lire, have reduced the leaning by 40,6 centimetres. In the 1990 the incline was 4 meters and a half.

The famous tower began to lean from the beginning of his construction in the 1173 because of the sandy soil and the incline has been going on year after year until the closing in the 1990.

The specialists decided to straighten the tower excavating the soil in the highest point, securing the building (his weight is 14.000 ton) with steel cables and making infiltrations of cement in the walls to reinforce them.

The tower belongs to the famous “Campo dei Miracoli” that includes the “Duomo”, the “Battistero” and the “Cimitero Monumentale”. These monuments were built when Pisa was a naval power of the Mediterranean Sea. The famous man of science Galileo Galilei used the tower to make experiments about the force of gravity throwing a set of weights from the top of the building.

Are admitted to visit the tower only the groups made up of 30 people at most (the visit will last about 35 minutes).

The ticket cost €  15,00. To receive more information  (tickets, access, placement) is possible to contact the board managing the monuments in the “Campo dei Miracoli”: Opera Primaziale Pisana, Piazza del Duomo 3 - 126 Pisa – Tel. + 39050560547 Fax + 39050560505 www.duomo.pisa.it e-mail:primaziale@sirius .pisa.it