Leaning Tower of Pisa

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Course: Ecotourism Leaning Tower of Pisa Contrary to the world that we live in today where perfection is a key aspect of almost everything in existence, the leaning tower of Pisa or as it is referred to in Italian “Torre pendente di Pisa” is an engineering disaster that attracts millions of visitors every year. The tall standing tower is 800 years old and it has become an iconic image of Italy. Tower of Pisa along with many other tourist attractions in Italy have reformed the country and its infrastructure to be able to support millions of tourist that visit the country. Constructing the tower begun in 1173, however after building the first three floors, work was stopped do to an underground river making soil damp on one side causing the tower to lean. After a century construction resumed again and in fact many exports say that the 100 years of waiting compacted the soil just enough to support the rest of the added weight of the tower. During the construction architects tried to counter angle the top of the tower to correct for the angle the tower leaned on one side by building four steps on the north side as opposed to the six steps on the south side. Never the less after almost two centuries, the construction of the tower ended in 1370. The tower stands eight stories tall with a 16-meter diameter and at the peak is the bell tower. Although the tower's bells are still in place, the three and a half ton bells are not to be rung, because the vibration might make the tower crumple to ground. The town of Pisa is located along bank of Arno River and its home to about 88,217 residents according to Google’s public data from 2011. As stated in a survey called Best European Vacations done by US news web site, Italy ranked one of the top 10 countries that people generally want to visit especially Americans. On average 50 million people visit the country every year

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