Nestled in the rolling hills of Hampshire, the city of Winchester is one of England’s most ancient and storied settlements. Once the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and later England itself, Winchester has borne witness to centuries of political change, religious transformation, military conquest, and cultural evolution. From the rei

Galileo Galilei, who was born in Pisa, is said (though debated by historians) to have conducted experiments from the tower by dropping objects to study gravity and motion. The tower has seven bells, one for each note of the musical scale. In addition to restoration efforts, tourist limits have been placed on visitors to protect the s

By the late 20th century, the lean of the tower had reached a dangerous angle of 5.5 degrees, raising fears of collapse. In 1990, the Italian government closed the tower to the public and launched a major restoration project to stabilize it. Engineers used a combination of counterweights, cable supports, and a technique called soil extraction, w

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most recognizable architectural landmarks in the world. With its distinctive tilt and elegant Romanesque design, it attracts millions of visitors each year who marvel at how such a seemingly unstable structure can still be standing after more than 800 years. But why does the tower lean to one side? The answer