Leaning Tower of Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa is a bell tower at Pisa, in Italy. Famous for leaning over 4 meters over to one side when measured from the seventh story. It was not supposed to lean but was built on unstable soil and began leaning soon after construction started in August 1173. The ground beneath the tower first started to sink after the first three stories were built. The tower is 55 meters high and topped out with a Belfrey. The construction of the building began in 1173 and lasted two hundred years.

Many attempts have been made to stop the tower leaning any further as fears of a collapse are very real. The lean puts enormous pressure on the masonry of the tower.
Lead weights have been added to one side to slow the progress of the lean. Concrete has been injected into the ground and wires have even slung around the tower to try and halt its leaning and sinking.

It seems the building may eventually be doomed to topple over. The strange thing is it would not be anything like as famous or popular without its leaning stature.