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The first thing to say is that the tower does lean. A lot! When you first walk inside it really unbalances you and as you wind your way up the 293 stone steps you can see how they are worn in different places depending which side of the tower you are on. It also feels strange when you come out on top of the Tower.
It was built as the bell tower to the Duomo and work began in 1173. It was finally completed in 1350 but was even then suffering from problems of leaning due to subsidence.
Everywhere you look around the Tower, are people posing for photographs to make it look as if they are holding up the tower. Naturally I had to have a go too.