Q 01/05

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was built to serve what function?

A) A university observatory

B) The cathedral's campanile

C) A lighthouse for the port

D) A lookout on the city walls

Answer · why

B) The cathedral's campanile

It is a freestanding campanile, one of three structures in the Cathedral Square alongside the cathedral and baptistery.

Q 02/05

Pisa is a city in which region of Italy?

A) Tuscany

B) Veneto

C) Lombardy

D) Umbria

Answer · why

A) Tuscany

It straddles the Arno just before the river reaches the Ligurian Sea.

Q 03/05

Why did the tower begin to lean during construction?

A) The marble was heavier on one side

B) An earthquake shifted its base

C) Soft ground could not support its weight

D) Builders misread the plans

Answer · why

C) Soft ground could not support its weight

Its foundation was a mere three metres deep, set in weak subsoil, a design flawed from the beginning.

Q 04/05

Roughly how tall is the tower on its low side?

A) 76 metres

B) 36 metres

C) 96 metres

D) 56 metres

Answer · why

D) 56 metres

It measures 55.86 m on the low side and 56.67 m on the high side, and weighs about 14,500 tonnes.

Q 05/05

After stabilisation work ended in 2001, what was the tower's angle of lean?

A) 5.5 degrees

B) 10 degrees

C) 1.2 degrees

D) 3.97 degrees

Answer · why

D) 3.97 degrees

It had reached 5.5 degrees by 1990; the correction pulled it back 45 centimetres to its 1838 position.