The Leaning Tower of Pisa is an attraction I couldn’t miss seeing while in Italy. It is such an iconic piece of architecture and known for its “unintended tilt.” The structure is the bell tower for the cathedral of the city of Pisa. The soft ground and inadequate foundation caused the tower to tilt upon construction and slowly overtime. About a decade ago, a restoration project saved the tower from actually falling over (despite tourist efforts to “help” hold the building up!)

The construction of the tower is pretty remarkable – it was built over 199 years. In 1964, the Italian government wanted to straighten out the tower, but ultimately decided to keep the tilt to promote tourism.

Today, despite other country’s man-made efforts, the Leaning Tower of Pisa holds the World record as the most lop-sided building. I didn’t spend much time in the city of Pisa and I would recommend the tower as a stop if visiting neighboring towns such as Livorno or Cinque Terre.