Leaning Tower of Pisa is realy beautiful building, the number one photo point!
Pose and take pictures in front of the tower. It's very fun.
The ticket office is located north side of the Leaning Tower, next to the crypt.
Look for the yellow triangle on the building.
On the right there are baggage boxes.
You have to be here 10 minutes before your entrance time.
This is the entrance to the Leaning Tower. It has already tilted from the entrance.
Following the instructions of the staff, you can enter just in time.
These are the spiral staircases of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They are very inclined
and worn, so please be careful not to slipp.
You can overlook the beautiful cathedral and baptistry from the top of the Leaning
Tower.
On the other side of the square of the miracle, the town of Pisa spreads like
this. Red tile rooves are spectacular.
Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction. Construction was subsequently halted for almost a century and was not finally added until 1372. It was built by Tommaso di Andrea Pisano, who succeeded in harmonizing the Gothic elements of the bell-chamber with the Romanesque style of the tower. The tower currently leans to the southwest.
The tower is made of white marbles and its weight is estimated at 14,453 metric tons. The height of the tower is 54.8 m from the ground on the lowest north side and 55.65 m on the highest south side. The tower now leans toward the south 4.5m, at about 5.3 degrees. Subsidence of the south side of the tower is c.a. 2.4m. The bottom part composed by the lined arches without opening (blind arcade), which are adorned with diamond pattern. This is an unique style of Pisa. On the upper steps there are apses similar to the Duomo with veined decorations. The tower goes up with six layers of the corridor in a beautiful and slender columns. The inside of the tower is planned to drop the gravity inside so there is a big hollow of 7.7m in diameter.
It's famous story that Galileo Galilei had dropped two cannon balls of different masses from the tower to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. However, this is considered an apocryphal tale, its only source being Galileo's secretary Vincenzo Viviani, and actually Galileo proved the gravity in other ways (prepareing a diagonal rail and rolling two balls of the same size but different weights on that rail)... Galileo's experiment of dropping balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa is just only a fun iconic Italian anecdote...
For one tour, it's composed a group of 40 persons and a visit guided by a staff lasts 30-minute. Children under 8 years old can not enter. Children of 8-12 years old should be accompanied by an adult, holding their hands. Also children under 18 years old should be accompanied by an adult.
First of all, the ticket office (left photo: Leaning Tower North) to purchase tickets. On the big screen it can be seen the information of disponibility (hour and vacancy), so you can purchase tickets selecting the best time.
Since bags can not be brought inside, you have to leave your bags at the safety box next to the ticket office, 10 minutes before departure time. It's possible to bring photo cameras and video cameras. Staffs will write down the number of your safety box on the entrance ticket and give you a card key so be careful not to lose. Stairs are worn and pretty slick, so it must be necessary to have proper shoes. However, this tower has only 294 steps and lower than the bell tower of Giotto in Florence , so it might be less tiring.
After leaving your baggages, go to the front door of the Leaning Tower. According
to the instructions of the staffs, you can start to enter. You'll feel the slopes
physically. It would be an interesting experience! While you are going up the
spirals, you may feel the inclination to right and to left alternately. On the
way, you can go out side but please wait to take a photo. After a while, go up
higher as instructed by the staff. Finally you'll arrive at the top through the
narrow stairs!
From here you can enjoy not only the Square of Miracles but also
red-tiled rooves overlooking the town.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Address: Piazza del Duomo
Price: 15 euros (online booking 17 euros)
Opening hours
December 25 - January 7: 9:00
to 18:00
November to February: 10:00 to 17:00
March 1 - March 13: 9:00 to 6:00 p.m.
March 14 - March 20: 9:00 to 19:00
March 21 - June 13: 8:30 to 20:30
June 17 - August 31: 8:30 to 23:00
Saturday, September 05 - September 30: 8:30
to 20:30
October: 9:00 to 19:00
When you arrive by train, it takes 25 min. by walk from the central staion of Pisa to the square of the miracles. Howevere, there is another station, Pisa San Rossore and from there it takes only 5 min.!
Therefore I recommend you this way. First of all arrive at the statin of Pisa San Rossore, then go to the square of miracles. After that visiting the townstreets of Pisa, you can get to the Pisa Central station.