The Leaning Tower(3)
Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy lean? It leans because of a mistake. It has leaned almost since the day the tower was built.
In 1173, the people of Pisa, Italy, wanted to build a bell tower. They wanted the tower to be the most beautiful bell tower in all of Italy. The city also needed a bell tower because the church did not have one.
However, there was a problem. As soon as the third floor of the building was finished, the tower started to lean. Builders tried to make the building straight again as they added more floors, but they could not figure out how to make it stop leaning. When the building was finished in 1350, it had eight floors and was 54.5 meters¹ tall.
After it was built, the tower continued to lean by another millimeter every year. By 1990, it was leaning by about four meters to one side. It was also slowly sinking into the ground. Many People became worried that it would soon fall apart.
In 1998, repair works began on the tower. Workers took nearly three years to move it back by 45 centimeters. It is still leaning, but it is now safe. (206 words)
¹ meter: 39.37 inches (3 feet, 3.37 inches); 1 meter=100 centimeter=1,000 millimeter
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