Pisa's Makeover Finally Over!

 

 My 1973 and 2009 photos.

The last Summer we visited the Leaning Tower for the second time in our journeys, there was still so much construction on the tower.  It's good to see that it's finally finished!  Compare my photos above of the difference in years...read on..

The Leaning Tower of Pisa Gets a Makeover

Apr 28th, 2011 

After 20 years of work, the leaning Tower of Pisa’s makeover is complete. With its signature tilt slightly corrected, the tower in Pisa is now gleaming white.

A team of restorers worked for two decades to remove the grimy buildup from the structure’s surface. The painstakingly slow work cleaned 7,000 square meters of white marble that makeup the façade of the tower. Teams also reattached pieces of marble that had fallen away.

The tower was surrounded in scaffolding to allow restoration experts to get to work on the marble, but teams also installed a complicated system of counter-weights to slow the tower’s tilt. Not only has the dangerous rate of decline been stopped, but the landmark is now 50 cm straighter than before work began.

The tower, which is located in Pisa’s historic piazza dei Miracoli was completed in 1350. Thanks to the restoration work, experts expect the tower to continue to straighten itself for 3 years before the tilt worsens again, meaning the iconic landmark will safely stand for at least 300 more years.