Italy's famed Leaning Tower of Pisa was last week in danger of being blown to marble bits. The Germans were reported using it as an artillery observation post. Unlike the treasure-strewn city of Florence, 49 miles away, Pisa had not been declared an open city. Other jeopardized treasures of Pisa, beside the 179-foot tower begun in 1174, included:
¶ The white marble Tuscan-Romanesque Cathedral, begun in the 11th Century.
¶ The Romanesque Baptistery, dating from 1153, containing an ornate 13th-Century pulpit by Niccola Pisano, an octagonal font built in 1246 by Bigarelli of Como.
¶ Treasures of Pisa's leading gallery, the Museo...
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