Tipping The Balance

In 1989 almost a million visitors clambered up the 294 steps and peered out over its vertiginous tilt--about 13 ft. off plumb and growing by an alarming .04 in. to .08 in. a year. Pisa's historic Leaning Tower, experts warned, had leaned too far and could topple at any time in the next decade or two. So the 800-year-old white marble structure, one of Italy's most famous monuments, was closed for nearly 12 years and for $25 million of ingenious engineering work to set it a little straighter. Not, of course, entirely straight--Dio mio!--that would have destroyed its tourist appeal. But straight enough to keep it stable for an estimated 300 more years.

Over last weekend, timed to the Feast of San Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, the plaza beneath the tower was reopened to the public. The tower itself will be reopened in the fall--but only to 30 visitors at a time, accompanied by a guide. And no leaning out too far.