Everyone has heard the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But did you know that such a miracle as a tilted building can be seen in almost every country? And sometimes, like in China, Italy, or Russia, for example, there are several. But PR is a great power. The leaning tower of Pisa , the photo of which is replicated so that anyone, even an avid homebody, saw it, overshadows all the other inclined buildings. And not only that: this masterpiece of medieval architecture with such a dangerous flaw began to be copied. People like to tickle their nerves and live in buildings that supposedly fall. And therefore, buildings are being erected now, in the design of which the inclination angle is specially laid. Such "falling" new buildings appeared in Dusseldorf, Abu Dhabi, Madrid, Montreal and Las Vegas. But in this article we will talk about old buildings. Some of them, such as the tower in the Spanish city of Zaragoza, could not stand the fight against gravity, but many still stand and even fixed their angle of inclination tightly.
Why are they falling?
The reasons for the deviation of the building from the vertical axis can be many. The architects, starting the construction, should not only draw the construction project, but also examine the soil at the place of its construction. Sandy or swampy soils subside over time from the severity of the building, which is why it can give a roll. This was the reason why the Leaning Tower of Pisa falls. The construction of multi-colored marble is perfect. The construction resembles a frozen stone lace. However, she began to heel during her erection. Gradually, the tilt angle became menacing. But now, restorers were able to solve this problem. They completely fixed the soil under the base of the tower and stopped its fall. Earthquakes often destroy buildings or ... tilt them. The movement of tectonic plates can also lead to the roll of high towers. This process is not as fast as an earthquake, but over the years, the angle of inclination is becoming more noticeable. Now, if you look closely at London's Big Ben, you can see that it is almost half a meter offset to the northwest. There are also such “falling” buildings that appeared not as a result of an engineering miscalculation, but, on the contrary, ingenious foresight. There are many such towers in China. Architects, given the rose of winds and soils, specially gave the buildings such an angle of inclination so that they are more stable.
The most-falling tower
Where is this record holder located? This is by no means the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The world-famous Italian built angle of inclination is only 5.2 degrees. But the Huzhu tower, which is located in the Tien Ma mountains in the Chinese province of Songjiang near Shanghai, tilted at 6.63 degrees. Moreover, this seven-story stone structure nineteen meters high is more than a hundred years older than its Leaning rival. It was erected under Emperor Yuanfeng, around 1079. The tower was originally conceived as inclined. Strong southeast winds often blow in this place. The tower is tilted in the opposite direction, so that air flows support it. They say that if the building were made strictly vertical, then it would have already collapsed. With the same calculation, in 1621, the Guilong Dragon Tower was erected on the island of Jiang-Xin in the middle of the Yujian River. Its top is deviated from the base by more than a meter.
Modest record holder
If the main criterion is not the deviation of the apex from the base (measured in meters), but simply the angle of inclination from the earth's surface, calculated in degrees, then a small nameless falling tower will become the leader. Country China, Liaoning Province, Suizhong County - these are its coordinates. The angle of incidence - as much as twelve degrees - is two and a half times greater than that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, the Chinese structure is small. It consists of three floors and has only ten meters of height (against 90 m at the Leaning Tower of Pisa). Therefore, the deviation of the top from the base is small.
Oldest falling tower
It is also located in China. This is the hutsu tower. An octagonal seven-story building made of black brick was erected under Xiande (Late Zhou Dynasty) around 959. The reason for the slope in this case (from this most often the falling towers appear) is the lack of architects. Soft soils subsided over time, and now the Chinese restorers have a big problem: how to stop the fall of an ancient attraction. The situation became dangerous: the old brick began to crumble. In 1981, the degree of subsidence was stabilized. The angle of inclination was also fixed. It is 2.47 degrees. At the same time, the top is 2.32 meters from the base.
Leaning Towers in Russia
In our country, you can also often see banked (sometimes from a rather dangerous angle) buildings. The most famous is the Nevyansk tower. It is located in the eponymous district center of the Sverdlovsk region. This is a monument of the eighteenth century. However, the glory of the Nevyansk tower was brought not by a noticeable angle of inclination, but by a unique auditory room. It has great acoustics. There, in the Urals, there is also a bell tower at the cathedral in the city of Usolye. In Kazan, in the local Kremlin, the top of the Syuyumbike tower deviated from the base by almost two meters. And finally, in Solikamsk at the Holy Cross Exaltation Cathedral there is also a “falling” bell tower. Interestingly, Russian folk thought never ascribes the reasons for the slope of buildings to the movement of tectonic plates, subsidence of soils or engineering miscalculations. Devils are always to blame, the death of the Kazan Princess (Syuyumbike) or the nostalgia of the architect Athanasius for his native Tula (Nevyansk).
Pisa, Bologna, Venice, Rome
The famous bell tower at the Cathedral of Pisa is not the only leaning tower in Italy. And even in this city there is another inclined structure. This is the bell tower of the monastery church of St. Michael of the Order of the Barefoot. Once upon a time, medieval cities had secular tower houses where noble families lived. Two such buildings remained in Bologna - the Tore degli Azinelli (one hundred meters high) and half its Tore Garisenda. Both stand on Rizzoli Street and are a symbol of Bologna. There are also two falling towers in Venice. The first is located on the island of Burano. This is the bell tower of the church of San Martino. The second is located in the region of Castelo. This is the bell tower of the Greek Orthodox Church of San Giorgio dei Greeks. The 1348 earthquake previously turned the direct tower of the Police (erected under Pope Innocent III the Third) into a falling one.
Curved Vezha of Poland
The marshland, strong sustained winds plus construction flaws created spanning towers in this country. True, they are modestly called "curves." The most famous of them is Kshiva Vezha in Torun. It is part of the medieval defensive structures of the city. Exaltation in the thirteenth century. Since then, she deviated from the vertical by one and a half meters. Another “Kshiva Vezha” is located in the town of Zombkowice Slask, which is located at the church of St. Anne (1413). Due to the displacement of tectonic plates at the end of the XVI century, the tower began to roll. Now its slope is two meters. The tower houses the Frankenstein Museum. In Wroclaw, the curved tower of the Capitula adjoins the oldest building of the city, the church of St. Iji.
Inclined belfries and other buildings
We can only list the falling towers scattered around the world. This is the Old Church (Oude Kerk) in the Dutch town of Delft, the Church of St. Margaret in the Romanian Media. Because of the peculiarities of the soil of such inclined structures, at least a dime a dozen in the UK and Ireland. You can call the Greyfriars tower in Kings Lynn, Bridgnorth (Shropshire), Kilmakdu in Galway (Ireland), Caerfili castle in Wales, Albert clock tower in Belfast. In Germany, Ulm also has a leaning tower with a tilt angle of 3.3 °. And even in the Kiev Lavra, the Big Bell Tower tilted 62 centimeters in the northeastern direction, which is very noticeable at a construction height of 96 meters.