LEANING- TOWER OF PISA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19719, 19 August 1927, Page 11

LEANING- TOWER OF PISA.

SLIGHT DEFLECTION NOTED. (Received August 18. 11.30 p.m.) Sun. LONDON, Auk. IV. The Rome correspondent of the Daily Mail says a commission of experts has reported that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has deflected one-third of an inch in nino years. There is no immediate danger of the collapse of the tower, but the experts recommend the stabilisation of the foundations in order to prevent a furthei declination. Pisa is an ancient town in Italy, 49 miles from Florence. Of its many fine buildings the best-known is the famous Leaning Tower, a companile in the Southern Romanesque style. The building is round; the walls at the base are 13ft. thick, and at the top about half as much, and arc of marble throughout. Ihe basement is surrounded by semi-circular arches, on 15 columns, and above rise six arcades with 30 columns each. The eighth, top, storey, which contains the bells, is much smaller than the others. I lie height is 179 ft. The tower deviates from the perpendicular *j an extraordinary ex tent, which is gradually increasing. In 1829 it was 15,'. ft. out of the perpendicular; in 1910 it" was The foundations are only 10ft. deep. I'he architects, Bonnand and William, of Innsbruck, did not, it is believed, plan other than an upright tower, but 't leaned while it was being built.