Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Day Eleven : Pisa

MOST PEOPLE KNOW PISA'S FAMOUS LEANING TOWER.
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The Leaning Tower was originally one of the components of the Campo dei Miracoli, or Fields of Miracles, a grassy piazza that also contains the cathedral, Baptistery and Camposanto.
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The tower was begun in 1173 as the cathedral's campanile. The tower was intended to stand vertically, but started to lean almost immediately, the result of the weak sandy subsoil underpinning its foundations.
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The heart of the complex is the Duomo, the medieval cathedral. The church contains the mummified body of St Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, and the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII.
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The Baptistery stands opposite the west end of the Duomo. The round Romanesque building is the largest baptistery in Italy.
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The height of the Leaning Tower is 55 metres from the ground. Its weight is estimated at 14,500 tonnes. The current inclination is about ten percent.
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Duo played the guitar and it was very relaxing to listen to the music.
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Silly shot. Many people took pictures of trying to support the Leaning Tower.
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Pisa lies on the alluvial plain of the Arno River, about 6 miles (10 km) from the Ligurian Sea and 50 miles (80 km) west of Florence. The city laid by the sea until the 15th century, by which time accumulated silt deposited by the Arno River had completely cut the city off from the receding shoreline.
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Pisa is not just the Campo dei Miracoli. Highlights of the rest of the town are : Piazza dei Cavallieri, Santa Maria della Spina and the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo. But, I didnt go there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

urayamashi~~~
didnt receive any postcard from u one??? :p kk

Patrick Leong said...

alamak...kk.. you didnt give me your address ;)