FIFTH WONDER
Of the Seven Wonders of the World, in the Middle Ages, the leaning tower of Pisa was listed as Number Five. The Tower was begun in the year 1174 A.D., to serve as a bell tower for the great Cathedral of Pisa. It is round, 179 feet tall, and built in six storeys.
Its construction is most peculiar; hence, men of the Middle Ages soon began to regard it as a wonder of the world, worthy of taking its place beside others of the Seven Wonders such as the Colosseum of Rome, the Catacombs of Alexandria, the Great Wall of China, the Porcelain Tower of Nanking, the Mosque of San Sofia at Constantinople, and the remarkable prehistoric ruins at Stonehenge.
The Tower of Pisa is built entirely of white marble. The walls are thirteen feet thick, and each story is supported by a circle of columns surmounted by little arches. But the foundation of the Tower is only ten feet deep, and this was the cause of the difficulty which resulted in the creation of a Fifth Wonder.
Soon after the construction of the Tower was started, it began to sink on one side into the soft earth. The architect was disheartened when he saw this, and soon gave up his task. A second architect was called in, and to offset the leaning of the Tower he continued the next story with columns somewhat taller on one side than on the other.
But this story added more weight to the structure, which sank still deeper on one side. A third architect was engaged, and he in turn added a story with columns taller on one side. And so it went. Finally, when six stories had been completed, the Tower leaned at such a dangerous angle that it seemed likely to topple over, and so the thought of building it any higher was abandoned. And thus stands the Tower of Pisa today, after hundreds of years, still leaning but never falling - truly a Wonder of the World.
When the CARONIA Summer Cruise calls at Livorno, many of her passengers will take advantage of the opportunity to visit Florence, and the ancient city of Pisa, to see this Fifth Wonder of the Middle Ages.
[Produced for the Summer Mediterranean Cruise departing New York 30 August 1963]