Editing Leaning Tower of Pisa (section)

== Construction ==
Construction of the tower occurred in three stages over 199 years. On 5 January 1172, Donna Berta di Bernardo, a widow and resident of the house of dell'Opera di Santa Maria, bequeathed sixty [[Soldo|soldi]] to the {{Lang|la|Opera Campanilis petrarum Sancte Marie}}. The sum was then used toward the purchase of a few stones which still form the base of the bell tower.<ref>Capitular Record Offices of Pisa, parchment n. 248</ref> On 9 August 1173, the foundations of the tower were laid.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=37PStsDpevoC&pg=PA254 |title=Finite Element Analysis in Geotechnical Engineering: Application |last1=Potts |first1=David M. |last2=Zdravković |first2=Lidija|author2-link=Lidija Zdravković |date=2001 |publisher=Thomas Telford |isbn=9780727727831 |pages=254 |language=en |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=18 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190918235637/https://books.google.com/books?id=37PStsDpevoC&pg=PA254 |url-status=live }}</ref> Work on the ground floor of the white marble campanile began on 14 August of the same year during a period of military success and prosperity. This ground floor is a [[blind arcade]] articulated by engaged columns with classical [[Corinthian capitals]].<ref name=Toy1920>{{cite journal |journal=Indian Engineerion | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cd27sERYahEC&pg=PA302 |title=The Campanile of Pisa |last=Toy |first=Sidney| volume=68 |year=1920|via=Google Books}}</ref> Nearly four centuries later [[Giorgio Vasari]] wrote: "Guglielmo, according to what is being said, in the year 1174, together with sculptor Bonanno, laid the foundations of the bell tower of the cathedral in Pisa".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/leoperedigiorgio08vasa |title=Le opere di Giorgio Vasari: Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori |last=Vasari |first=Giorgio |date=1878 |publisher=[[Sansoni (publisher)|G.C. Sansoni]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/leoperedigiorgio08vasa/page/274 274] |language=it |oclc=15220635 |quote=Guglielmo, secondo che si dice, l'anno 1174, insieme con Bonanno scultore, fondò in Pisa il campanile del Duomo, dove sono alcune parole}}</ref>

The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. This was due to a mere three-metre foundation, set in weak, unstable [[subsoil]], a design that was flawed from the beginning. Construction was subsequently halted for the better part of a century, as the [[Republic of Pisa]] was almost continually engaged in battles with [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Republic of Lucca|Lucca]], and [[Florence]]. This allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled.<ref name="pbs-nova">{{cite web |title=Fall of the Leaning Tower – History of Interventions |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pisa/interventions.html |website=NOVA Online (PBS) |access-date=24 April 2019 |year=1999 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424081312/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pisa/interventions.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 27 December 1233, the worker Benenato, son of Gerardo Bottici, oversaw the continuation of the tower's construction.<ref>Public Record Offices of Pisa, Opera della Primaziale, 27 December 1234</ref>

On 23 February 1260, Guido Speziale, son of [[Giovanni Pisano]], was elected to oversee the building of the tower.<ref>Public Record Offices of Pisa, Opera della Primaziale, 23 February 1260</ref> On 12 April 1264, the master builder [[Giovanni di Simone]], architect of the [[Camposanto Monumentale di Pisa|Camposanto]], and 23 workers went to the mountains close to Pisa to cut the required marble. The cut stones were given to Rainaldo Speziale, worker of St. Francesco.<ref>Public Record Offices of Pisa, Roncioni, 12 April 1265.</ref> In 1272, construction resumed under Di Simone. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, the engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other. Because of this, the tower is curved.<ref name="mclain">{{cite book |last=McLain |first=Bill |title=Do Fish Drink Water? |year=1999 |isbn=0688165125 |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dofishdrinkwater00mcla_0/page/291 291–292] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dofishdrinkwater00mcla_0/page/291 }}</ref> Construction was halted again in 1284 when the Pisans were defeated by the Genoese in the [[Battle of Meloria (1284)|Battle of Meloria]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gu9Ev_4PL5oC&pg=PA64 |title=Authentic Tuscany |last=Touring club italiano |date=2005 |publisher=Touring Editore |isbn=9788836532971 |pages=64 |language=en |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809133811/https://books.google.com/books?id=gu9Ev_4PL5oC&pg=PA64 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The seventh floor was completed in 1319.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_5QDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |title=Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History, and Meaning |last=Roth |first=Leland M. |date= 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780429975219 |pages=98 |language=en |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809133710/https://books.google.com/books?id=q_5QDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT98 |url-status=live }}</ref> The bell-chamber was finally added in 1372. It was built by [[Tommaso di Andrea Pisano]], who succeeded in harmonizing the [[gothic architecture|Gothic]] elements of the [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]] with the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] style of the tower.<ref>{{Citation |author=G. Barsali |title=Pisa. History and masterpieces |publisher=Bonechi |year=1999 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZTRaipHNP8C&q=%22with+delicate+skill+managed+to+blend+in+the+Gothic+elements |isbn=8872041880 |access-date=25 August 2015 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809133903/https://books.google.com/books?id=nZTRaipHNP8C&q=%22with+delicate+skill+managed+to+blend+in+the+Gothic+elements |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Giorgio Vasari, Jean Paul Richter |title=Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects |publisher=H. G. Bohn |year=1855 |page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GaYCAAAAYAAJ&q=Giorgio+Vasari+Tommaso+di+Andrea+Pisano&pg=PA153 |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809133918/https://books.google.com/books?id=GaYCAAAAYAAJ&q=Giorgio+Vasari+Tommaso+di+Andrea+Pisano&pg=PA153 |url-status=live }}</ref> There are seven bells, one for each note of the musical [[major scale]]. The largest one was installed in 1655.<ref name="pbs-nova" />
<!-- * One possible known builder of Pisa Tower was [[Gerardo di Gerardo]]. His name appears as a witness to the above legacy of Berta di Bernardo as "Master Gerardo", and as a worker whose name was Gerardo.
* A more probable builder was Diotisalvi, because of the construction period and the structure's affinities with other buildings in Pisa, but he usually signed his works, and there is no signature by him in the bell tower.
* Giovanni di Simone was known to be heavily involved in the completion of the tower, under the direction of Giovanni Pisano, who at the time was the master builder of the [[Opera di Santa Maria Maggiore]]. -->
[[File:Italy - Pisa - Cathedral Square.jpg|center|thumb|800px|Panoramic view (from left to right) of the [[Campanile]] (Leaning Tower of Pisa), the [[Pisa Cathedral]], and the [[Pisa Baptistry]] in the [[Piazza dei Miracoli]]]]