Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, standing in the Piazza del Duomo (also called the Piazza dei Miracoli) in Pisa, Italy. It is famous for its tilt, which comes from soft ground under a shallow foundation. It rises beside the cathedral in a square that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The story behind it

Building began in 1173, but the tower started to lean after only a few years of work, when the upper floors were still unfinished. It had been built on loose, unstable soil of an old alluvial plain, with a foundation only about three metres deep. Work stopped for roughly a century. When it resumed, the builders, under Giovanni di Simone, tried to compensate for the tilt, which is why the tower has a slight curve. The belfry at the top was added later, by Tommaso Pisano.

In 1990 the tower was closed for major stabilisation work and stayed shut for about eleven years. The engineers reduced the lean by roughly 45 cm, and the tower now tilts at about four degrees. It will never be perfectly straight, but experts consider it stable for at least two centuries. A popular tale says Galileo dropped objects from the top to study falling bodies, and another says the swinging lamp in the cathedral inspired his ideas about the pendulum. Both are legends rather than proven fact, but they are part of the fun of the place.

What to look for

• Look at the tower from a distance first and notice the gentle curve in its column, a trace of the builders correcting the lean as they went up.
• Study the rings of arched galleries on the white marble, which repeat the style of the cathedral next to it.
• Compare the tower with the cathedral facade, which is almost a thousand years old, and with the Baptistery nearby.
• Walk around the base and see how the ground slopes away on the leaning side, where the weight of the tower sinks into the soil.

Tips for your visit

• Walking across the square costs nothing. Climbing the tower or entering the other monuments needs a ticket, so check current opening hours and booking rules before you go.
• Plan about an hour for the square if you only want to look, and more if you go inside the monuments.
• Early morning and evening are usually calmer and give softer light on the marble.
• The Cathedral, the Baptistery and the Camposanto are all on the same lawn, so you can see them in a single visit.

See it on a quest

Pisa Highlights: The 7 Wonders of the City is a good way to take in the tower as one stop of a longer walk through the city. You reach each place on foot, the app tells you about it as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Romantic Pisa: The Curse of Rosa suits couples who want a story-led walk with a romantic theme. The route passes the tower, and the app gives you the background of each place as you reach it, with a puzzle to solve in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Romantic Walk in Pisa is another self-guided option for two. You walk from place to place at your own pace, hear about each one on your phone, and solve a puzzle at the tower rather than just taking the photo. One ticket covers the whole group.