Straightening the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
On 15 December 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened to the public after an unprecedented 11-year closure.
Famous worldwide for its dramatic lean, the tower also became, during the 1990s, the most closely monitored building on Earth. Engineers and scientists watched anxiously as the tilt worsened year by year, raising the very real possibility that the tower could topple.
The lengthy restoration effort — invisible to tourists but watched closely by experts — was a race against time, during which visitors were barred from climbing the tower for over a decade.
The complex €27 million stabilization project reduced the tower’s tilt by around 17 inches, securing the iconic structure for an estimated 200–300 years.
Nunziante Squeglia, professor of geotechnics at the University of Pisa, tells Colm Flynn about the extraordinary moment the tower reopened.
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(Photo: The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Credit: Martin Ruegner/via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:10.7 | Welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Column Flynn, where I'm taking you to the city of Pisa in Italy, and the moment when one of the most famous buildings in the world was fixed. |
| 0:27.4 | I remember that at that time everyone was happy because the whole town is decorated with candles. |
| 0:36.2 | There are many parties. |
| 0:38.5 | Bells rang out across the city to celebrate |
| 0:40.7 | as the tower opened its doors to visitors |
| 0:42.8 | still leaning, but now just a little bit straighter. |
| 0:46.3 | And obviously the satisfaction was very high. |
| 0:50.1 | As high as the tower. |
| 0:51.4 | Yes. |
| 0:52.8 | And more stable. |
| 0:56.0 | That's Nanzante Squealya. |
| 0:58.0 | Remembering the moment, the city's famous leaning tower of Pisa, reopened on December the 15th, 2001, |
| 1:05.7 | after being close to the public for over a decade due to its lean becoming too dangerous. |
| 1:12.1 | Pisa's famous tower has been restored to its former glory. |
| 1:15.7 | Nanzante is a professor of soil mechanics and foundations at the University of Pisa, |
| 1:20.9 | and together we're standing in the city looking at the tower. |
| 1:24.1 | You can see how at present is shining. The tower has been not only |
| 1:29.9 | stabilised, but ten years ago has been also restored all the surfaces. It is very white. |
| 1:38.8 | Very clean and restored. It looks beautiful. Today, Professor Squillia is in charge of a group |
| 1:43.9 | who are constantly monitoring |
| 1:45.5 | the tilt of the tower, which is leaning 3.97 degrees to the south. And he's been working on this |
... |
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