Modern Wonders
THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the famous bell tower, in Italy, that began to lean in the year 1173. It was built to display the wealth of the people of Pisa. The people of Pisa were sailors who had conquered lands such as Jerusalem, Carthago, Ibiza, Mallorca, Africa, Belgium, Britannia, Norway, Spain, and Morocco. Their only real enemies were from the city of Florence. They needed the tower to show the people of Florence how well they were doing. Architects realized that the tower was leaning when they had finished building one and one half meters of the third floor. The damage was irreversible so they halted construction until 1272 because war broke out against Florence. All of the money was spent on warfare and there was not much left for the tower. The lean was caused by the sandy and marshy soil that the tower was built on. During construction from 1272 till 1275, the tower continued to lean. In 1275 war with Florence broke out again. After this they began to construct the belfry, credit for which is often given to Tommaso, son of Andrea Pisano. The construction was believed to have been completed in 1350. In 1392, causing great humiliation, Pisa was sold to Florence and the residents were forced into slavery. They never managed to gain back the wealth that they had in the early years.
THE EIFFEL TOWER
The
magnificent structure known as the Eiffel Tower, shaped by supports of iron, was
built in France for the 1889 Paris Exposition. Designers Maurice Keochlin and
Emile Nouguier assisted the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.
This massive 984-foot structure, built to celebrate the world's accomplishments
in science and engineering, consists of two immense parts; a base composed of a
platform resting on four separate supports and, above this a slender tower
rising above a second platform to combine into a towering peak. On March 31,
1889, a small group of dignitaries climbed the 1,792 steps to the top of the
Eiffel Tower to hoist a huge French flag at the top. It was once said that the
French flag flew on the highest flagpole in the world. Meanwhile, on the ground,
tables were laid for a great celebration. The tower was an enormous hit at the
Paris Expo, attracting almost two million visitors in five months alone. During
the exposition, visitors had to paid money to ascend up the tower.
