Leaning Tower of Pisa
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Real Identity: Unknown
Appearances (JLU): The Once and Future Thing Part Two
Powers: Landmark
Voiced By: Not Applicable
The Tower of Pisa was to be a grand work of art to celebrate an age of military conquest and prosperity and serve a Roman Catholic cathedral in the district of Tuscan and city of Pisa in Italy. It was to be a freestanding bell tower built in three stages. It is unknown who the architect was but most believe it to be Guglielmo, Bonanno Pisano, or Diotisalvi. However, the design was flawed from the beginning because of a bad foundation and weak layer of subsoil. On August 9, 1173, construction began. When the third floor was added, the tower sank in 1178. Construction was put to a stop to let the soil settle and because of war between Genoa, Lucca and Florence. It was restarted in 1272 by Giovanni di Simone. The engineering team dealt with the sinking issue by making one side of the floor taller than the other. Another battle put another hold on the Tower's completion. Tommaso di Andrea Pisano built its bell chamber and it was added in 1372, 53 years after the seventh floor was finished.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has its place in history. It is said that Galileo Galilei conducted an experiment in mass by dropping two cannon balls from the top. Centuries later, the Nazi Party used the Tower as an observation post during World War II. The U.S. Army Sergeant in charge decided not to fire on the structure. Many times, efforts were made to restabilize the Tower with counterweights but in 1987, it was chosen as a World Heritage Site. The taller side of Tower stands at a height of 186.02 feet, 294 steps, weighs 14,500 metric tons, and has leaned at angles of 5.5 to 3.99 degrees. In a hypertimeline in the 2050's, the war lord Chronos littered Neo Gotham with artifacts and landmarks including the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Once Batman reset the timeline, the Tower and the others were returned to their rightful place and time with no ill effects.