30 years ago, the straightening of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began

Pisa - 30 years ago, on January 7, 1990, one of Italy's tourist magnets, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, was closed for renovation. The marble bell tower, whose top had deviated almost four and a half meters from the vertical axis, was reopened after almost 11 years. Technicians managed to straighten the famous structure by almost four decimeters, thus saving it for future generations.

The foundation stone of the grand 54.4-meter-high bell tower in Pisa was laid in the summer of 1173. The soft substrate caused the tower to start leaning during its construction. The builders tried to correct the deviation by inserting trapezoidal stones. The leaning could not be stopped, and over time it even began to accelerate. By the early 1990s, the tower was leaning about a millimeter per year, and its collapse was imminent.

In January 1990, therefore, the authorities closed the iconic bell tower and began its repair. The demanding reconstruction lasted 11 years and cost the Italian state treasury more than 28 million euros. During this process, builders had to reinforce the foundation of the tower and the bell tower itself. The tower also experienced partial straightening. The original deviation from the vertical axis, which was 4.5 degrees, was reduced to "only" 3.97 degrees.

In November 2018, agencies reported that due to engineering works, the tower had ceased to lean, and its deviation is now half a degree less than at the turn of the millennium.